Secretive Dragon
by animefreak1457
Summary: Serenity carries a secret with a friend away from her friends for two months. Now, Serenity has been arranged to be married to the coldhearted Kaiba. How could she keep her secret hidden while dealing with a curious, handsome Kaiba in her life?
1. Daily Life

**Secretive Dragon**

by: animefreak1457

My very first Yugioh fanfiction but seventh story. This is actually my brother's fault! His obsession of Yugioh made me obsessed too! He is now the second... or sixth animefreak in my family! Okay... the pairings are... SetoxSerenity, YugixTea, JoeyxMai, BakuraxRebecca, MarikxTara(OC) and IshizuxShadi. This is when Serenity is in high school... junior year (so she's sixteen years old).

I need someone to check over my spelling and grammar for this story. I am the worse grammar checker in my high school life! So please volunteer to help me!

Summary: Serenity carries a secret with a friend away from her friends for two months. Now, Serenity has been arranged to be married to the coldhearted Kaiba who took sudden interest, or liking, in her. How could she keep her secret a secret while dealing with a curious, handsome Kaiba in her life? Silentshipping

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh. If I did, I'm doing the pairings.**

Chapter 1: Daily Life

"Oh no! I'm late!" A sixteen year old, light auburn haired, olive eyed girl was running through the streets of Battle City to get to school. Her silky soft hair flew with the wind current as she ran quickly toward school. After the battle against the Pharaoh, they moved on and changed a lot over the last two years. Ever since Yugi's gang and him graduated from her high school, Serenity was alone with no friends around her age. They were all in different colleges and were being successful. Yugi and Tea moved to America to go to a college that they applied. Joey lived with Mai after he proposed to her and was working in the Game Shop where Yugi's grandfather owned, not to mention getting a better salary. Serenity was happy for the both of them because she knew that Mai and Joey were meant to be together but sad at the same time because she couldn't live with her brother anymore. Her mother agreed to move back to Japan with much of Serenity's pleading and take Joey in their care when the father died. It became very normal to the family of three until Joey moved and applied to a college. Joey sometimes called both his mother and his little sister to know how are they doing without him. Tristan and Duke's crush on Serenity faded away and moved on to a college... much to Serenity's relief from the continuous flirts. Rebecca's crush on Yugi faded away, but she has her eyes set on the British accent boy, Ryou Bakura. Serenity was attending the same high school where her older brother attended, and she was getting good grades.

However, she didn't have any new friends when she moved in.

The students around her only recognized her as Joey's little sister. They tried to make friends with her, but Serenity stayed away from them because they were being nice to the final duelist's little sister. She only wanted to make friends who only see her as herself... not someone else. On the first day of Domino High, she was alone at first because no one wanted to hang out with a shy, silent girl. The only friends she made was Marik, who had his family moved in to Battle City since there was no reason to stay in Egypt and started one year ahead, and Mokuba, who is now a freshman at the age of twelve.

However, on that day, she met her first friend on a strange occurrence.

Serenity made a turn that leads to her high school, but a stranger also turned towards Serenity. Her eyes went wide and realized that both of them were about to collide in the corner. She made a quick thinking and halted her pace. At one second, she stepped aside to go around the stranger while spinning with one foot like she was taking ballet. After she was at the stranger's side without any physical contact, she made a mad dash while waving without acknowledging the stranger or seeing the face.

"I'm sorry! I'm in a hurry today!"

She continued to run quickly to the high school until she disappeared inside the gates. The cobalt eyes stared where the petite girl disappear in his old high school. He turned his eyes back to his destination and walked away, letting his dark violet trench coat fly behind him. He gave a smirk toward the girl who avoided the collision and contact.

"Hmph. Whatever, my dear."

0000

"Seren! Where the hell were ya! Get in before the bell rings!" A shout came across the hallways where Serenity was in. Serenity smiled as she met her first friend at the entrance of the door, wearing a different pair of shoes that was for entering the classroom.

"Sorry, Tara! I overslept!" Serenity replied with a smile.

Tara Strong was in the same class as her and became her first friend after the strange occurrence between them. She had choppy, jet black hair that reached to her chin. Her two strands of her hair were split above the middle of forehead. Her dark olive eyes looked like it was pitch black or gray instead. Her personality was the opposite from Serenity's. Serenity was shy, silent, and dependent on others while she cheered on her friends. Tara, however, was loud, outgoing, and independent while she does the right action to boost the moral. Ever since they met, they became friends, and the both of the friends rubbed each other's personality. Serenity had more confidence in her, and Tara learned how to control her excitement and anger.

Serenity quickly changed her shoes and got in the class before the bell rung ten seconds ago. They got to their seat on the far left corner where they could see what's going on outside.

"Geez. Set your alarm early, Seren." Tara whispered, sitting at Serenity's right side. Serenity smiled and whispered back.

"Sorry." The teacher walked in the classroom and announced.

"Okay. Settle down, class. Get your books out and turned to page..."

Serenity glanced out from the window and noticed a black limousine outside of the gates. She also saw the two flags that held the sign of Kaiba Corp.

_Kaiba's here?_

She didn't hear anything about Seto Kaiba for a long time. Probably, it is because she didn't pay attention to the elder brother while her friends graduated from high school. Kaiba hated to go to this school because it was too easy, people wanted to be friends with him to be popular, fangirls adore him and claim false announcements about love that wasn't reached, and Yugi and his gang were there the most. Serenity didn't understand why Joey and Kaiba didn't get along when they first saw each other. She also ignore the glares from the man and the comments Kaiba made when the two met or pass by.

_Then, what is he doing here?_

She found a figure next to the right gate. There stood a tall, wiry man, wearing a dark violet trench coat, black pants, black clean shoes, and a black turtle neck shirt, looking at her with cobalt eyes through his chestnut hair. He smirked at something... or rather smirked at her. At the same time when the man smirked, Serenity quickly turn her attention back to the teacher who was writing on her chalkboard. She felt a light small blush on her cheeks when she felt the stare from the man, boring into her head.

"Serenity?" The auburn haired girl turned her attention to her whispering friend beside her. From the corner of Tara's eye, the look was concern and worry about her friend. Serenity shook her head with a smile on her face. Tara nodded slightly and looked back to the teacher. Serenity glanced back to the gates where Seto Kaiba and his limousine were before she turned her attention back to the teacher. No one was there.

_It must've been my imagination. Get a grip, girl! He graduated and is never gonna step on this school ground again!_

0000

It was lunch time, and everyone was enjoying the talking, scene, and sometimes food. He or she chose to stay inside or go outside, if the day was sunny. Some went down and buy lunch from the cafeteria instead. However, two students didn't have time to grab their lunch or have a nice chit-chat with the boys. Instead, they were running up the stairs to the roof door, frantically. They both hoped that nothing went wrong around the school. Oh man. Thanks to one person who sensed something wrong on the roof. They have to skip lunch to beat whatever what up there.

"You sure it's **them**?"

"Yes, Tara! Do you think that my sixth sense went wrong?"

"No! I never said anything about that! Let's hurry up and beat **them** before they could harm anyone else!" Tara almost tripped on the 107th step.

"I hate the stairs!"

"Good thing we have to make up an excuse for the boys to NOT come with us! You did a good excuse THIS time!"

"Sh-shut up!"

They were rushing up in spirals and were feeling their legs giving away. However, when they reached to the door up in the roof, Serenity slid down on her butt while clutching the handle bar, and Tara was holding herself up on her knees to balance herself from the long run. In a few minutes, they regain some of the energy and stood up straight. Serenity and Tara took a deep breath as Tara held the door knob and twist it.

_Click._

The door was open, and she pushed the door forward to see the light blind them for a second. After the light subsided, there stood two black hooded figures who had their Dueling Disks out. Tara and Serenity put up a stern face and walked out. Tara closed the door and walked to the left side as Serenity was on the right side.

"So, you two are the dragon duelists our men were talking about..." One of the hooded men commented. Tara rolled her eyes and glared at the two. Her fists were on her hips to show that she was mad.

"Gee. How do you know? Listen, could you just wait after school or something? I'm not in the mood right now. M'kay?" Serenity glanced at her friend from the corner of her eyes and shook her head.

"Tara... they're not gonna listen. It's been like this almost everyday. We're just going have to deal with it." Tara sighed and held out her left arm in front of her aiming at the black hooded man in front of her. Around her arm, a bright light with black on the edges glowed and formed into one of Kaiba Corp's creations in the Battle City finals.

It was a Duel Disk, but it was just not any Duel Disk. It resembled to the Red Eyes Black Dragon. The Duel Disk looked like it was modified carefully to have the same functions like the ordinary disk. The wing was used for the cards to hold them in place; the neck curved to the head that had its mouth open for drawing the cards; the left front leg under the head of the dragon covered over the hole where the cards were sent to the graveyard; and the rest of the body was holding tightly on the girl's arm.

"Oh well. I'll just have to deal with you two with my Hell Deck." Tara smirked as the wing were connected and slid to the front of the Red Eyes Black Dragon's head. Not only that, two black dragon wings appeared on her back. Serenity sighed and held out her left arm. A bright light with blue edges engulfed the girl's arm to form the same modified Duel Disk like Tara's. However, she has the Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"I'll use my Heaven Deck to help you." Serenity's Duel Disk was set up for battle and her white dragon wings appeared. Tara snapped her fingers, and everything in the world stood still, literally.

"I'm not gonna waste my lunch time, so I'll stop time until this battle is over." Serenity and Tara focused and began the double duel against the hooded men. The four spoke out at the same time.

"LET'S DUEL!"

Unknown to them, they didn't notice cold cobalt eyes watching the duel behind the two girls from another building's roof. He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, observing their tactics and strategies in the time freeze realm against the mysterious hooded men.

_I don't believe in freezing time, but this duel intrigues me. That woman, Ishizu, did say something about her playing an important role. I wonder how much she has improved over the last two years._

He observed the wings on the girls' backs, like he have seen them before. He held his chin and pondered.

_Those wings... they look familiar._

**First time, but don't review just yet. There's a second one.**


	2. Serenity and Tara's Encounter

**This chapter is confusing at first, but when you read later on, you'll understand why did Serenity have a Blue Eyes White Dragon Duel Disk and other powerful cards. I checked over my mistakes from both the chapters, and I really need help. So, please. Volunteer to correct me on grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and keep the story in line.**

I don't own Yugioh or the characters, and this is going to be the last time you'll know.

**If you see something like this (1), it means that I made it up.**

Chapter 2: Serenity and Tara's Encounter

"Since your turn is over, I'll draw one card." Tara drew one card and smirked, giving their opponents a bad sign. It should have been ten minutes when it began, but since they were in a time freeze, they didn't have to deal with missing their lunchtime. Not only that, they stopped time before anyone else may have searched for them and see an astonishing card duel. On the playing field, there were different kinds of monsters on the battlefield. However, the battlefield looked like it was getting intense if time continued or not.

The black hooded men had four monsters on their field. The Harpy's Brother and Twin Headed Thunder Dragon were on the right side, and the Dark Magician that is wearing red and Jinzo on the left. The four monsters were on attack mode. There was one card on each side. One was faced down, but the other had been activated as Dragon Jar to immobilize any dragons from attacking.

On the girls' sides, the monsters they summoned were a shocker. On Serenity's side, no one could tell if that dragon belonged to her because it was rightfully owned by the CEO. There stood the great Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and St. Joan that was protecting its owner. She had three face down cards just in case if the two mysterious men tried to pull a move on her monsters or her partner. The dragon was on attack mode, but her St. Joan was on defensive because the man on her side activated "Block Attack" on his previous turn. Tara had her Meteor Black Dragon, her Kuriboh, and her Wretched Ghost in the Attic (looks like the darker version of Kuriboh) on her field. Her dragon was also on attack mode, while the two furry fiends were on defensive mode. There was one face up card, and it was the ring that Rebecca used for her Millennium Shield against Yugi two years ago. Tara had 1950 life points, and Serenity had 2100. The two other men had 1500 on Tara's side and 2000 on Serenity's side.

It was a daily routine for the two during a double duel, which made it both exciting and nervous. It was the most difficult and rare game that almost everyone had played. It takes trust, courage, sacrifice, risks, and partnership between the two players. Serenity and Tara had done quite a lot and made themselves more focused and trustworthy. They both sacrificed two of their monsters to risk each other's lives to save another, and it was like this ever since they both met. It was school hours first, lunch (sometimes if Serenity didn't sense one or two men up in the roof), study, walking back together to Serenity's house to drop off (many times was dueling the hooded men with their chosen deck or other opponents with their original deck), and Tara leaving to her home.

"All right! Now... I activate 'Pot of Greed.' You already know what I am about to do." The black haired girl took two cards from her deck and looked at them. She made the smirk bigger and turned her attention to the men.

"Now... I activate 'Giant Trunade'. You all know what to do." All of the duelists took their traps and magic cards back to their hand. Serenity gave a smile to her partner as Tara was highly amused at the two men who were sweating like crazy, knowing that the hooded men are in a tight spot.

"Now... I activate my Magic Card, 'Fiend Bond (1).' Since this card is new to you, it increases all Fiend monsters on our side by 500 ATK and DEF points." The two monsters on Tara's side growled as it gain more power.

"However, I sacrifice 1000 of my life points when I activate this card." Tara smiled sadly as her life points decrease to 950.

"Now... say goodbye to..." She glanced at the Twin Headed Thunder Dragon and smirked, taking a guess that his partner wouldn't do anything to save him.

"Your Twin Headed Thunder Dragon!"

"No!" The hooded man protested as her Meteor Black Dragon attacked the dragon. His life points went down from 1500 to 800, making Tara's haunch right.

"Now... I activate my Magic Card, Ring of Magnetism, and attach it to my Meteor Black Dragon." The Magic Card revealed itself, and a ring appeared around the dragon.

"I end my turn." Tara stated as she looked at the man in front of her. No words are needed from the hooded men. Tara and Serenity already dealt with this many times. Sometimes, the men explained what the card does when the one of the girls asked what does it do. The man drew a card and frowned, not choosing the right one. It was obvious that the man set down a magic card due to the Giant Trunade and ended his turn due to the Ring of Magnetism around the Meteor Black Dragon.

"Serenity..."

"Right." She drew a card and smiled. Things were going too well for the both of them.

"Alright! I place two cards on the field..." She inserted two cards in the wing as two cards appeared on the field.

"I switch my St. Joan to attack mode..." Serenity switched her horizontal card to vertical as St. Joan stood up ready to fight. "... and I activate 'Harpy's Feather Duster'! Say goodbye to the only card on the field."

The man gritted his teeth and reluctantly took the card out and put it in the graveyard.

"I place 'Helping Hands'!(2)" She activated a card in the wing, and the card from the left showed up. "This card can choose up to monsters who are level three or lower on my... or should I say our side of the field and aid my St. Joan to increase her attack points by 300 each. Any monsters have a power equip increases the attack by how many attack points the equip card says. Since Tara's 'Fiend Bond' increased her Kuriboh and Wretched Ghost in the Attic by 500, my St. Joan has an increase of 1600 attack points. Now my St. Joan has the total of 4400 attack points." The two fiend monsters flew to St. Joan's side, and her attack points increased.

"Now... St. Joan! Atta-" Serenity was cut off by the roar from her dragon. She silently winced and looked at the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon that had it's right head looking right back at her.

"You want to attack?" The dragon nodded as Serenity looked at her St. Joan.

"Is it okay for you?" The woman nodded with a smile and kindly step back. Serenity sighed in relief.

"Alright. Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" The dragon seemed to roar with happiness and determination.

"Attack the Dark Magician!" Serenity commanded it, and the dragon had beams coming out from three of its mouths toward the Dark Magician. Since it was in attack mode, the monster disappeared, destroying the owner's life points completely. Serenity turned to his partner who was panicking right now.

"Are you ready, you three?" St. Joan, Kuriboh, and the Wretched Ghost in the Attic turned their heads to Serenity and nodded.

"Okay. Go! Attack Harpy's Brother!" The three charged toward the man with wings as the man tried to swipe the three monsters with his claw. However, St. Joan broke the claw with her sword as the twins tackled the man down, shattering the man and depleting the life points of the owner into nothing. The two kneeled down and disappeared into black smoke, leaving two cards behind.

"Yay! We did it!" Serenity jumped in joy as Tara sighed in relief. The five monsters didn't disappear because they wanted a praise from their owners. The Kuriboh and its look alike flew back to Tara's side.

"You, three, did a great job. I'm proud of you." She ruffled the two fiends' heads as they jumped with joy in midair. She also patted the head of the Meteor Black Dragon as a thanks. She took out the graveyard cards and her playing cards, put them back to the deck, and reshuffled them.

"You all did a great job. You deserve a rest." The three monsters disappeared back to her deck. She was about the dismiss her Duel Disk, but she glanced at her side, making her snicker at the scene.

_Looks like Seren is still having trouble handling the three headed beasts._

It was true. The auburn girl was merciless tickled by the tongues of the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon by the face. She laughed as St. Joan joined the tickle war. Tara shook her head. Ever since the deck Serenity received appeared at the same day the two met, the deck and cards seem to enjoy hanging out with the pure innocent girl.

"Ahh! Tara! Help! Hehehe! It tickles!" Serenity pleaded through laughter. Ignoring her partner's pleas, Tara walked toward the two cards and picked them up where the two stood.

"Hahaha! Okay! Okay! I give! Hahaha!" The two stopped attacking Serenity as she breathed in with relief.

"You guys did great out there! You and the cards earn a well deserved rest." She hugged her St. Joan as the woman patted her head and hugged the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon by the middle head as the two other heads rubbed both of her cheeks. The two disappeared back to her deck, and Serenity took all the discard cards and playing cards back to her deck, reshuffled.

"Damn! It's just Magic cards again!" Serenity turned her head to her partner and shook her head in disbelief.

_Even though we won, she is still looking for stronger cards._

Serenity walked toward the fuming girl and placed her hand on Tara's shoulder.

"Hey, calm down. It's kinda rare to find useful Magic and Trap cards to help us. You might need them to fight against these hooded men that are after us." Serenity calmed Tara who sighed to control her anger and frustration.

"Alright, Seren. We'll use these instead. Hey, which card do you want for adding to your deck?" Tara asked.

"Huh? Which one?"

"Well, right now. We have 'Rain of Mercy' and 'Megamorph.'" Tara whistled as she examined the cards' abilities.

"Damn. These two are good. Hey, Seren. Which one do you want? Since you won this whole duel, it's your right." Serenity pondered about this. She seriously didn't want power, so she took the Rain of Mercy card.

"Alright. I'll take the Megamorph just in case your in trouble." Serenity gaped at her dueling partner.

"But-" Tara cut her off.

"No but's, Seren. I'm still going to protect you and support you through this." Serenity smiled and sighed. She looked around the rooftop and remembered the first day they met.

_Flashback_

_Serenity sighed as she looked around the school she was in. Since she was junior, she still did not made any friends. No offense toward Mokuba and Marik, but she wanted a friend at the same age and at the same class she was in. She felt lonely most of the time since the gang graduated and moved on. She was happy but sad at the same time for them. She sighed. She felt like a shadow out of almost everyone in school. Serenity wanted to have someone acknowledge her as Serenity. Not a Wheeler, not Joey's little sister, and definitely NOT Duke's and Tristan's crush. She wanted someone to know just her. She sometimes made childish wishes. She doesn't care what kind of adventures awaits for her. Serenity just wanted a friend to know that Serenity is herself._

_"Oof!" Okay... that wasn't supposed to be planned out for our main character. Serenity fell on her butt and looked up. A girl with choppy jet black short hair stopped walking and looked back._

_"Oh! I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention!" Serenity apologized but stopped when the girl held out her hand for Serenity to get up._

_"Heh. Don't worry. I'm new here. By the way, the name's Tara Strong. What's yours?" Serenity looked up to see a new face and dark olive colored eyes around the school. She had a smirk and an eyebrow raise up, waiting for an answer._

_"M-my name is Serenity Wheeler." She accepted her hand and felt herself pulled up a little too hard._

_"Sorry, Serenity. I'm kinda strong for a girl since I took karate. I'm new around here, so... could you tell me where is 3-A? I'm lost." Tara rubbed her head sheepishly with a light pink on her cheeks, feeling quite embarrassing. Did Serenity heard her right? 3-A? That's where she's heading!_

_"That's where I'm going! I could lead you to the room since I know this school." The girl smiled and nodded her head._

_"Thanks, Serenity. It's really big for me." Serenity tilted her head in confusion._

_"Do you live here?" Tara stared at her for a moment and shook her head._

_"Not really. I just moved from America." Serenity and Tara heard gasps around them and turned to see the students around their conversation gawking at the black haired girl. The two sweat dropped._

_"Ehehehe... er... we're going to 3-A right now! Nothing interesting here, everybody! Just keep on moving." Tara grabbed Serenity's arm and ran quickly to the rooftop. Since they have thirty minutes to spare, they took their time to pant from running up the stairs._

_"Geez... how did you... climb up the stairs... to the top floor?... We... could have taken... the elevator..." Tara talked through pants._

_"We're... not allowed... to use... the elevator... because it's... for the teachers..." Serenity took a deep breath and controlled her breathing. She glanced at the girl who stood up and was slightly taller than Serenity. Serenity is 5' 5". So this girl is somewhere between 5' 6" or 5' 7". She noticed that this girl was a little muscular on the legs and arms._

_"Are you athletic or something, Tara?" The jet black haired girl looked at her and nodded._

_"Something like that. I told you that I took karate." Serenity noticed something else. Tara was looked side to side with the corner of her eyes, a slight frown, and her facial expression was something like anger and worry._

_"Hey, Serenity. Could you go back inside and get my stuff?"_

_"Huh?"_

_"I... left them behind where we bumped into each other, so... could you get them for me? I'll... wait here." Serenity got suspicious about this. First, it was the caution face. Now, she was dismissing Serenity. Something going on._

_"Ah... okay... I'll get them for you." Serenity turned around and walked toward the door. She took the door knob and was about turn it, but she felt the whole world stop still and her body glowed slightly._

_"Hold it right there, girl." Serenity turned around slowly to see two hooded men with Duel Disks around their left arms. One had his arm crossed over his chest while the other was pointing directly towards Serenity with his right arm. She couldn't see their faces, but something told her that she rather not know. They just wore a trench coat with a hood over. Black buttons hid the clothes underneath them, leaving the sight of black combat boots to see instead._

_"M-me?" Serenity pointed to herself. This was unusual. Many people didn't want to fight the girl because she was known as the weakest duelist in Yugi's gang because of her Saint Deck._

_"Hey!" They looked at Tara who was glared at them._

_"Leave her out of this! She has nothing to do with you, creeps!" The two shook their heads as the man let his arm down to his side._

_"Ah... but she has something to do with us. Something to do with destiny." Tara turned to look at Serenity._

_"Did... did you do anything to them?" Serenity stared at the girl, got the question in her head, and shook her head furiously._

_"N-no! I never did anything to them! I never met them! I live here!" Tara blinked at the girl she was staring at. She seemed to see through the auburn haired girl to get the truth somewhere in her. Tara nodded, believing her excuse._

_"Yeah. I believe ya, but..." Tara paused as she thought of some kind of question formed in her mind._

_"...how are you able to move when everything stopped moving?"_

_"Wha-?" was Serenity's intelligent response. She looked around the outside of the world. The birds froze in midair, the sheets in the hospital seemed to freeze like ice, and the people stood what they were doing like statues._

_"H-h-how is this possible?" Serenity asked herself out loud. She could have froze where she was like the other people! How is she walking in a timeless realm? This started to freak her out._

_"It seems that we found another kind that hasn't reached her full potential of being a dragon duelist." The man announced with a sinister laugh. Tara had her jaw slightly open and stared at the girl who looked like she was in denial._

_Looks like she is._

_"N-no... I'm neither of them. I'm Serenity. Serenity Wheeler. I'm normal duelist." She repeated the words over and over again. Now, she wished that she had her big brother with her, telling her that it was alright, saying something to cheer her up. However, he was in college, and she had to stand up for herself. She felt her eyes water as she was on her knees and clutching her head._

_"Knock it off! Leave her alone! I'll take you both on!" Serenity snapped her eyes opened and looked at Tara who had something glowing on her left arm. She gasped as a Duel Disk appeared in a modified way. Black scales, red eyes... It was a Red Eyes Black Dragon Duel Disk. Not only that, she saw what was on Tara's back. Her back sprouted black dragon-like wings. It made sense. She was the holder of the Red Eyes Black Dragon!_

_"Hey, Serenity! You may stay if you want. I'm not going to force you to leave." Tara turned her head and gave Serenity a smirk. Serenity looked at Tara who gave her a friendly look. Serenity shook her head and stood up._

_"Tara, I-I want to help."_

_"What?!" Tara yelled in surprise. Tara didn't expect THAT from Serenity. Serenity looked at the girl in front of her with fierce determined eyes._

_"I want to help you beat these guys. I want to help out in your future battles. I may not know what's your goal or what kind of dragon duelist I am, but... something deep inside in me... it's telling me that I must help you. Please, just let me aid your mission. I had my friends helping me through strange situations through dueling before. Now, it's my turn to help other out." Tara stared at the girl with amazement. She wanted to argue back, but words of determination from this girl and the fire burning in her eyes made her speechless. Serenity felt a calm stare through her body, through her heart. She guessed that Tara was looking for determination through her words. She was surprised that a smile crept through Tara's mouth._

_"Such words. Alright, I'll let you help." Serenity felt her smile coming from her mouth as well._

_"Thanks." Then, suddenly a light appeared on her left arm and felt her back throbbing in pain... major pain._

_"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" Serenity was now on her knees again as she clutched her sides with tears flowing through her eyes._

_"Serenity!" Tara ran toward the girl and held her shoulders. Serenity still screamed and thrashed side to side for the pain to end. She still screamed and felt something speaking in her. She heard a woman's voice in her head._

_**Calm down, little one.**_

_Who are you?_

_**I am the incarnation of you. You must calm down for the transformation to complete.**_

_I-I can't! It hurts so much!_

_**Be calm, Serenity. It won't hurt so much. You must be calm.**_

_"Serenity! Calm down! What's-" Tara was interrupted by a sudden sight of the sprouting of the white dragon wings and the appearance of the Blue Eyes White Dragon Duel Disk. Serenity panted as Tara stared in awe._

_"Holy..." Tara snapped out of her amazed stare and back to the girl who she was holding on the shoulders._

_**The transformation is complete. Now, you are the Dragon Duelist of the Blue Eyes White Dragon.**_

_But... who are you?_

_**I told you. I am the incarnation of you. I'll give you a hint. Go to the museum to find out who I am.**_

_"Serenity! Are you okay?" Serenity looked up and nodded. She shook and tried to regain balance while clutching on Tara's arms. Once she regain balance, Serenity felt her left arm held up. She noticed Tara's hand over the deck that was already place inside the mouth of the white dragon. Tara smiled and released Serenity's arm._

_"Looks like I finally found you, Dragon Duelist of the Blue Eyes White Dragon." Serenity gaped at what Tara said._

_Blue Eyes White Dragon? That's the strongest dragon in all of monsters!_

_"Yo! You okay? We're going to have to duel them, now." Serenity snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the girl in front of her._

_"You know how to duel, right?" Tara asked. Serenity nodded and made Tara smile with joy._

_"Well... looks like its a double duel. Come on! Let's take down these bastards down! I got your back."_

_That started a friendship in strange occurrences in one day._

_End of Flashback_

"Hey, Seren! Yoo hoo! Hey! You're dozing off, again!" Serenity snapped her attention back to the timeless realm. She looked at her friend who had her wings and her Duel Disk dismissed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Serenity blushed slightly and rubbed her neck.

"Sorry." Serenity's wings spread wide and dissolved into glitters of light. Her Duel Disk glowed and disappeared, leaving her arm bare. Tara shook her head and snapped her fingers, letting time continue its course. Birds continued to fly upward, the sheets flew with the wind, and the people walked through the sidewalks like they were supposed to be.

"So, whatcha thinking this time, Seren?" Tara asked as the two girls walked back to the door.

"Hmm? Oh! I was just remembering how we first met." Serenity said. Tara blinked for a few seconds and started to laugh.

"Oh, that! I guess it was kinda funny that everything happening on the same day. First, we bumped into each other, then, founding out that you are the Dragon Duelist of the famous Blue Eyes White Dragon, later, we start to chat, argue, get in trouble, cleaning up the rooms, and apologized for being in a bad mood, and finally, go to Ishizu's museum to find out that we have challenges ahead of us from Ishizu herself. I still can't believe that you are the reincarnation of Kirasa, the holder of Blue Eyes White Dragon, in ancient Egypt." Tara was counting her fingers to know how many strange events they encountered in one day. Serenity shrugged and opened the door.

"I didn't know either. I wonder what's next in our so-called adventures that awaits us." Tara chuckled.

"Whatever. Just make sure that rearrange your Saint Deck." Serenity rose an eyebrow.

"And... why is that?" Tara shrugged.

"Koga wants to duel you, again." Serenity sighed and shook her head. Serenity closed the door and locked it, leaving no suspicion that the two girls were at the rooftop.

"That has to be the 52nd time I have to duel this year."

"Hey! Don't complain! This is going to be the 52nd time you won! I don't know why you don't use stronger cards other than the Dark Magician Girl! But... man! You just creamed almost everyone using the cards everybody hates against them! I don't understand why you take the weaker cards, but-" Serenity cut her off before Tara's rant give her a headache.

"Weren't we supposed to protect Marik and Mokuba from the fangirls?" Tara blinked and rubbed her head.

"Ehehehehe... eh... whoops?"

0000

The man standing on the building was shocked, surprised, amazed, or all of the above. He saw monsters like that since he owned Kaiba Corp. and other companies and created prototypes of new inventions for card games. However, the duel... or double duel he saw was... was... he couldn't put a word in this! The two girls have a complete different deck and Duel Disk. Hell, their monsters responded differently to their masters! He saw how differently the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon acted to the girl. It was supposed to be ferocious and dangerous, but this girl made this dragon look like a little kitty after the game. After the girls left, Seto Kaiba smirked and turned around to go back to his chopper.

_You are an odd girl, my little sweet Serenity. I wonder. What is your little secret you are keeping from everyone with your friend?_

**Okay... now you can review.**


	3. CEO's Appearance

**Okay, now I REALLY need a volunteer to help check my stories. I can't continue asking without anyone helping me!**

Chapter 3: CEO's Appearance

"Finally! I have the whole weekend for myself!" Tara shoved the last book inside her hand bag. Serenity was sitting down, reading a book that was assigned for the weekend. School was over and... today was Friday. The two girls were the only ones left in the class since 1) everyone else left and 2) due to Serenity's obliviousness by studying and reading a book, Tara has to wait for a five minutes for Serenity to wake up from her one-sided focus. This happened also in the first day of their meeting. Serenity always had her mind somewhere else or in her studies while Tara noticed their surroundings. There were some boys in their classes, looking at Serenity with lust and desire. The black haired girl didn't like the looks sending toward Serenity like she was just a toy. Most of the time, Tara and Serenity walked back to the auburn haired girl's apartment first. Tara did trust Serenity to be fine on her own, but she didn't trust what would happen to her first friend in Battle City when her first friend was obviously oblivious to everything in her selfless, carefree mind. Sometimes, Marik and Mokuba hung out with them if they have nothing to do. Tara would silently scowled at the public fanclubs and secret fanclubs. She vowed to never join one that would waste a lot of her time. Sure, she would make friends with the main objectives of the worshiped fanclubs but never, and she means NEVER, go gaga over one person.

"Hey! Serenity! Tara!" Tara turned around and smiled. Serenity was still reading the book in front of her nose.

"Mokuba! Marik! Yo! Waccha doin' here?" There stood two boys with a smile on their faces. They both wore the blue uniform like the other classes. Marik had his hair tied to a low ponytail since his last class was involved in Physics. His height was 5' 9", but he wasn't all macho or mean. He was actually kinder and helpful on tutoring the two girls on some subjects they detest the most. Mokuba grew a little taller and reached up to Serenity's height, so he was thought to be Serenity's cousin due to hanging out with her a lot.

"Getting away from our fanclubs and wanting to walk you girls home, too." Marik said. Tara laughed a bit and looked at Mokuba.

"What about you? The same thing? Or just one of them?"

"Just one of them: getting away from our fanclubs." Marik looked at Serenity who was still not acknowledging their entrance and back to Tara.

"Tara?" Tara turned to Marik with her eyes. Marik blushed slightly when their eyes met. When he met Tara from Serenity, he gained a small crush on the black haired girl. Marik hung out with Tara a lot and taught her about Rituals. She never had used Rituals before, so Marik taught her how to use them. They practiced for weeks because of Tara's confusion on using the Ritual Cards. Today, she had the skills to rival Serenity's skills. Not only that, Marik's crush on her grew more and more, making him nervous around her. However, Tara was oblivious about the people who have a crush on her. Serenity already noticed how Marik was looking at Tara's direction and silently vowed to help her two friends get together.

"Hmm?"

"Er... is Serenity like this all the time?" Tara blinked and frowned a bit, bowing her head down and blushing like a squashed strawberry.

"Yes, unfortunately. It's... kinda my fault." She laughed sheepishly. The two boys looked at each other, to Serenity, and back to Tara.

"When did this happen?" Mokuba asked. Tara looked up and advert her eyes to the right side.

"This happened a week after I met you guys. I... brought a book from America to read for my spare time in class. I thought I was ignored since I was new, but Serenity came and was interested in the book I brought. I lend her my book, and well..." Tara turned to Serenity who closed the book and shoved it in her case.

"This happens. It only takes five minutes to wait for her response." Tara added on as Serenity turned her head to the three. Mokuba and Marik sighed in disbelief, thinking the same in a sarcastic way.

_Oblivious girl is now oblivious to love at first... AND now her surroundings. Thank you, Tara, for adding the trouble we are going to have._

"Oh! When did you guys came in?" The two boys almost lost balance but held on to the desk nearby. Tara's eye twitched, resisting her own hand to slap her own forehead.

"Five minutes ago, Seren." The jet black haired girl mumbled. Why did she protect the Dragon Duelist of the Blue Eyes White Dragon again?

_Oh... yeah... Ishizu's story... Almost forgot the story there... Why Serenity, out of all the people, have to be the reincarnation of Kirasa and have to be clueless around her surroundings?_

0000

"See you, guys!" Mokuba waved from the limo he was in to his friends.

"Bye, Mokuba! See ya Monday!" Tara shouted as Marik and Serenity waved. When the three were out of his sight, Mokuba sighed and rolled up the window. He was finally free from school, but Mokuba was going to miss the three friends he made, especially Serenity the most. He doesn't know how, but... for some reason, Serenity was like a big sister to him he never had. Probably, it was hanging around her the most. When his big brother was away in college and work, Mokuba and Serenity hang out the most if Marik has a curfew of coming back home, Tara helping her parents in the flower shop, and Serenity's mother wouldn't be coming home around twelve in the morning. Mokuba and Serenity would hang out in arcades, ice cream, or at her apartment for studying until six in the evening, sharp. That's when Seto would pick him up in front of Serenity's apartment. Sometimes, the four would go inside an arcade and either play video games or duel, one-on-one or double. Usually, Serenity and Tara would duel one-on-one and attracted many people to their intense duel.

Okay, here's the reason. The two girls were the two best card duelists in Domino High, both single dueling and double. Heck, they were the next two best duelist in the city when the gang and Seto were apart. They didn't need strong cards, but they only take the weakest cards in their deck. Okay. Now this confused everyone. Every card duels, they won a lot by using weak cards, activating useful magic cards, and trapping them with sneaky tactics. The two girls should have taken everyone's strongest cards in less than a week, but instead, they took the weakest cards.

It was rumored that the girls already have the main strongest cards in their decks, but that rumor was no longer told when Serenity announced that her strongest card was the Dark Magician Girl and Tara's main card was Gaia the Fierce Knight. Now, the new rumor was that they had battled together to keep each other strong, and their teamwork transfered their skills to their individual battles. Many, both individuals and partners, fought against Serenity and Tara for the past few months. However, they lost their weakest cards to the two skillful girls.

The limousine stopped in front of the tall building that belonged to a famous duelist and being the best big brother in Mokuba's life. The chauffeur got out of the driving door, ran around the front of the limousine, and opened the door where Mokuba would exit out. When the door opened, Mokuba stepped out and took his book case with him. He observed the outside of the building, sighing. It still hadn't changed for two years. Flat grass, clean and straight concrete sidewalks, two statues of the Blue Eyes White Dragons on both of his sides, and the glass door entrance that leads to the first floor of Kaiba Corp. When Mokuba was about to take his first step, his cellphone vibrated in his right pocket. Mokuba sighed, took his cellphone out, and flipped it open, placing the phone next to his ear.

"Mokuba speaking." He knew it was Seto in the phone, but almost being like his brother, he used Seto's greeting towards everyone.

"Mokuba. I'm going to be a little late. Don't wait in the first floor, and take the top floor. Understood?" Mokuba nodded with a smile.

"Yep! Hey, wait. What made you late?" There was a pause on the other side of the phone. For a few seconds, Seto spoke.

"Something caught my attention. Don't worry about me, little brother. I'll come." Then, Seto hung up the phone. Mokuba sighed and continued his path toward the entrance. The young Kaiba was thinking about what caught Kaiba's attention. He knew that Joey, Mai, Yugi, or his other friends weren't around to visit Serenity. If one of them did, Serenity would call the three over to visit an old friend. I couldn't be facing a duelist. It would waste Seto's time and skill on an amateur. Mokuba mentally slapped himself on the forehead, grinning like a cherish cat. Of course...

_Serenity, the oblivious Wheeler family member. Out of all the girls, Seto had finally fallen for a girl who is the sister of his annoying enemy._

Mokuba wanted to giggle in an un-boyish way. Ever since Serenity transfered to Domino High two years ago, she has caught the interest of Seto Kaiba. Mokuba and the gang, except Joey, secretly nicknamed her "Oblivious Girl" since she doesn't notice the existence of the famous duelist, Seto Kaiba, who is interested in her and sits next to her in two of her classes. Her friends plus her name that fits her personality made her carefree and lax. Her smile was enough for Seto to advert his eyes away from the young girl. Her kindness, helpfulness, and gentleness made her do things in her own free will. Her quiet and shy nature didn't distract Seto when she sat next to him but gave him more concentration on work and relaxation from his stress in both school and work. Seto hides his emotions by either glaring slightly at the girl or provoke Joey's anger. However, Serenity didn't pay attention to the glares or the insults that would hurt her. Her cute concern facial expression melted everyone's heart, including Seto's. Even after graduation, Seto's love for the girl didn't diminish. Instead, it grew.

Mokuba silently wished for a way to get Serenity to notice Seto without being oblivious this time. It was a childish wish but... oh, man. His wish may come true for once. Maybe... today.

0000

"Well, see ya, guys. I'm getting on." Serenity took a step inside the trolley car that would bring her to her apartment in three stops. She usually take the trolley car instead of walking because her mother chose a place that was far from Domino High.

"Bye! Have a good weekend!" Tara waved to Serenity with a smile on her face. Serenity waved back and turned her sight toward the driver of the trolley car. She walked up and tried to find a seat for her to sit for the next three stops.

No luck.

All the seats were taken and only the handles were left. Some took the handles and left enough for the next riders. She shrugged and took one in the middle of the car. There were other people coming in, but her mind was somewhere else like what would she do once she got home, when would her brother call, and what type of dinner would she make. She didn't notice the trolley car moving until she felt that she bumped into someone behind her. She snapped out of her thoughts, turned around, and apologized to the person she bumped into.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you! I just lost my balance!" She felt a finger on her silky lips, silencing her from her apology. Her eyes widened as a blush crept up in her cheeks. She couldn't remember who he is, but he was handsome, very handsome. He was tall, making her height up to his shoulder. He had his smooth chestnut short hair and wore a dark violet trench coat over his turtleneck tight shirt that showed a little muscle. He wore black pants and black business shoes. What amazed her the most was his cobalt colored eyes meeting her olive colored eyes. She had not felt this emotion before in her whole entire life. Her mind was now on this young man who seemed three years older than her. The man smiled softly, making her heart melt. He leaned in next her ears, whispering.

"Don't worry. This happened to many. I forgive you." His voice. So warm... yet... so familiar in a contrast. Then, the trolley car stopped on the next station. The man started to walk in the crowd, leaving Serenity in a slight daze. However, her daze was awoken by many other females who looked to the direction where the man just left. She heard three of the girls, squealing.

"Oh my gosh! That was Seto Kaiba, wasn't he?"

"Yes! He was in the car just like me!"

"I wish I was the next one, bumping into him!"

Serenity blinked and the name stabbed through her mind and memories of him.

_Chestnut colored hair, cobalt eyes... That was Seto Kaiba! What is he doing here! I thought he was already at Kaiba Corp. with Mokuba!_

She blushed a little more, remembering what he did to her before he got off the trolley car. She shook her head to clear the memory.

_Stop it! He was just messing your head like the rest of the girls!_

She sighed as she looked outside when the next stop came. She couldn't but have a small wish in her mind.

_Although he's an arrogant man with a huge ego, I do wish that we would meet again._

0000

After the trolley car incident and paying a hundred yen, she was walking toward her next destination: home. Even though it was small, the apartment was enough for two people to live in. Serenity did all the chores and cleaning up in the apartment to make it clean. Her life was somewhat normal, but today was peaceful. She was now standing in front of her door with the keys on her hands in the second floor. She inserted the key in the lock and turned it. The click meant she was okay, and she twisted the knob, opening the door.

"Mom! I'm home!" Serenity called out in her apartment.

No answer.

Serenity sighed as she removed her school shoes and slipped her feet in the bunny slippers. She walked toward the kitchen and looked at the note from her mother.

_**Serenity,**_

_**I'm going to be coming come late again. I'll be home in one o' clock. Don't stay up for me.**_

_**There is a sandwich in the refrigerator if you are hungry.**_

_**Your Mom**_

She shook her head with a frown on her face. She was going to be home late... again. She turned to walk to her room where she had her own. She opened the door and took her slippers off. She placed her book case on the desk and looked around her room. It was small, but it was beautiful in Serenity's eyes. The wall were light blue, and the wooden floor was smooth. She had a mini bookshelf near her bed that had a white quilt with colorful birds on it on the opposite side from where she was standing. On the far right corner and next to the door, the mini desk with school supplies was placed there with the book case on it. She sat down on her bed, taking her feet off the slippers. She took off her socks and stretched her toes for the cool air to go through in between.

The atmosphere in her room was quiet. No noise was going to be heard but by Serenity Wheeler. Too bad the cellphone went off, waking Serenity from her daze. The cellphone was ringing in the case, and the auburn haired girl slipped her feet back in the slippers and walked toward the case. She opened the top and dug in to find her silver cellphone. She found it and flipped it open. Placing next to her ear, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sis!" Serenity smiled when she heard a male's voice through the phone.

"Joey! How are you? How's Mai?" Joey chuckled and answered back.

"I'm fine, and she said, 'Hi, little sista! We miss ya!'"

"Tell her I miss you, guys, too!" Serenity giggled when she heard Joey yelling away from the phone to Mai. Mai sounded like she just squealed in delight, meaning she was happy.

"Hey, sis. Can I ask ya sometin'?" Serenity blinked. This must have been something important.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Wou'd ya come to da Game Shop aroun' six? Ya may have ta meet someone... or sometin'." She heard a sneer from Joey when he said the last word. Something in her gut told her he or she was someone in the shop, making Joey either disgusted or hate him or her even more.

"Is it important?"

"Yeah." He grunted. This was unlikely him.

"Joey? Are you alright? Does he or she trouble you?" She could hear the phone moving to someone else.

"Serenity... please. Don't push him. He now frustrated today. Just please go to the Game Shop." Serenity sighed and agreed to her sister-in-law. There was no use in pushing a frustrated Joey. It would make him more stressful than ever since he is in his first year in college.

"Alright. I understand. I'll go. Bye, Mai."

"See you there, Seren." Serenity sighed, hung up the phone, and looked up to the light blue ceiling. Serenity's instincts were telling her to oblige to Mai and Joey's plead. Her instincts told her something bad is going to happen in the house.

Ninety-nine percent was her instincts were correct. One percent was when her instincts were wrong. She prayed that her instincts were wrong this time.

**I need a volunteer to help check my stories when I'm completing the next chapter.**


	4. Marriage?

Chapter 4: Marriage?

Serenity was walking down the sidewalk with her light violet backpack with her. She was wearing light blue jeans and a dark blue sweater that was covering her yellow shirt. It was five thirty in the afternoon, and she was on her way to Yugi's Game Shop. She already finished her homework earlier, but since her Saint Deck was in her backpack, she brought her homework... and deck just in case there was a challenger who wants to beat one of the two best duelists.

Ever since the phone call from her brother and her sister-in-law, her mind was full of questions. Is it a reunion of the gang since the gang finished their college years? No. They have another three years ahead until they received their diplomas. Was there something wrong in the Game Shop? No. Yugi's grandfather and Joey knew the store from scraps. And if there was a problem, they would fix it, not her. Was it family issues? Likely, but it was far behind the guess that it was wrong. Joey or Mai would have called her quickly about something horrible that happened to either both of them or her friends. So what was it? Is there something that Joey didn't want to do that could cause anyone harm?

Probably...

Serenity didn't notice that she was going to turn to the right of the corner of the street or a person, running toward her.

"OOF!/ OW!" The two fell down on their butts after the collision of not paying attention.

"Shoot! Serenity! I'm sorry! Are you alright?" The black haired best friend sat up and looked at the girl who was lying on her back. Tara was wearing black jeans and a red hooded jacket that was covering her black tank top.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry about bumping into you." Serenity sat up and then standing up, holding her hand out to Tara. Tara smiled sheepishly and accepted Serenity's help to stand up.

"Are you going to duel again in the arcade, again?" The auburn haired girl asked. Tara nodded with her smiled faltering and took her cellphone out. Her dark olive eyes were searching for the text message as her thumbs were pushing the buttons. When Tara found it, she handed the cellphone to Serenity who wanted to see what was the text message.

_Rcade duel. -M.I._

Serenity frowned and looked up. "Marik wants to duel you?" Surprisingly, Tara's smile went back on her face, making Serenity surprised and confused, not to mention a leak of annoyance.

"Looks like Marik wants a rematch from the last two duels." Serenity smiled at her friend, forgetting the annoying look toward Tara.

"It seems that the student has surpassed the teacher." Tara giggled a bit.

"Yup." Now, this time, it was Serenity who giggled. Tara laughed with her and slowly calmed down.

"Serenity?" Tara asked the girl who was calming down from her laughter.

"Hmm?"

"Where are you going? I mean, I rarely see you leave your house other than hanging around with us." Serenity paused for a moment to think about something that wouldn't relate to her guess.

"My brother called me to come over to an old friend's shop. He said something is important." Tara placed her right palm on her hip.

"Family issues?" Serenity rubbed her head.

"I think it is. He or my sister-in-law never told me what was going on." Tara nodded with understanding. If it was family issues, Tara can't interfere with family matters with her curiosity.

"I understand. If you have any problems, call me as soon as possible." Serenity handed Tara back her cellphone. The black haired girl slipped the phone back into her pocket and ran, waving to the auburn haired girl.

"See ya, Seren!"

"Bye!" Serenity waved back before Tara turned her attention back to the sidewalk. She sighed and continued walking down the path.

_"If you have any problems, call me as soon as possible."_

Serenity frowned when her best friend said this.

_If I did have any problems, how am I supposed to call you when I'm the one hurting the most?_

0000

Serenity was now standing in front of the entrance of the Game Shop. She wanted to go inside, asking what happened. But... for some reason, she felt... scared. She didn't feel scared for two years ever since the day from the Battle City Final Tournament and the incident with the appearance of Noah. She didn't want to go inside because her guts told her that something would become bad that would ruin the rest of her entire life. Serenity took a deep breath, took the door handle, and twisted it, preparing for the worst that she prayed that it would not break her. She push the door forward, hearing the chimes of the bell over her.

"H-hello?"

"Serenity!" The young girl jumped almost three feet in the air when she heard two female voices coming from both of the sides. Her heart beat was so fast that it would explode from the scare. However, her scare was replaced with joy when she saw Mai and Tea. Mai had her hair into a high ponytail and wore a little make-up. She wore white jeans, high heal sandals, and white vest, covering her violet tank top. Tea was wearing a pink T-shirt that has an American flag picture on the front. She was wearing blue faded jeans and white sneakers. Her hair was still short, but her eyes were brighter than the last visit.

"Mai! Tea! How are you?" She walked inside the shop quite quickly and closed the door behind her. She knew that Tea and Mai found their love of their life and was happy for them. Now... if she could just find the right guy...

"Oh nothing much. I just got back from America-" Tea was cut off from the mischievous Mai who had a wicked but friendly smile on her face.

"That is fourteen hours long, and you were about to sleep until sunset if it weren't Joey to wake you up ten o' clock in the morning."

"Mai! She didn't need to know that!" Tea blushed and gave a friendly glare at her old friend. Serenity giggled and was glad that it was the three of them. Oh how she missed those days...

"Serenity! Hey!" Joey yelled happily before the sound of his face collided on the wooden floor by his trip. The three girls laughed at Joey's clumsiness. Yep... the old days...

"Ren! How are ya and mom?" Joey got himself up and walked toward Serenity like a normal person, blushing at his clumsiness. Serenity smiled and embraced her brother.

"Fine. She's gonna come home late again, but she said hello to you." Serenity partially lied. When her mother told her that if Joey is going to visit them again while their mother was away, she wanted Serenity to give him hugs and kisses to substitute for their mother's hugs and kisses. However, since Serenity was oblivious during her reading, she didn't catch that information.

"Okay. Tell her dat I said 'Hi' to her." Joey smiled. Serenity nodded, remembering this in for her mother instead remembering what her mother said. Then, she noticed the change of facial expression, making her frown in worry and slight fear.

"Everyone? Is everything alright?" She asked. Her brother was looking down on the floor, thinking it was more interesting than his sister.

"Joey?"

"Ren... follow me." Serenity knew this was serious. He could not make a demand unless something was a serious issue, causing him to flinch at the tone of demand he would not use against his family. She oblige and follow behind her brother toward the living room where Joey and his grandfather were sitting on the couch. She smiled, thinking it was just a joke to scare the living day lights out of Serenity.

"Yugi! Mr. Moto! How are you?" The two Moto's smiled. Solomon Moto was growing older, but he was still capable of running the shop with Joey working with him. Yugi was taller than he was last two years ago. Since his growth spurt, he reached up to Joey's height and gained a little muscle. He was wearing a tight black tank top and black jeans with a silver belt holding up his pants. He still wore the Millennium Puzzle in the memory of the Pharaoh's battles and last departure to his own time.

"Serenity! We're fine!" Yugi smiled and waved his hand. Serenity was relieved and looked up to her brother with a smile.

"Joey! You never told me that Yugi's here! I thought... you... were... seri..." She trailed off when she saw her brother's eyes not on her but glaring at someone else who was sitting across the two Moto family members. Against her gut feelings, she slowly turned her eyes and face toward the person he was glaring at.

Seto Kaiba.

_What is he doing here?_

She turned her eyes and face away from Seto's glare at her quickly. "Big brother? What is he doing here?" She wanted to know what was going on. At first, he was nice toward her in the afternoon. Now, he was here being normal again.

_Why is he being cold again? What happened to him after he and I met?_

Joey sighed and turned his back to Serenity. She looked at Seto who was smirking triumphantly and back to Joey who was rubbing his forehead like there was a migraine coming up.

"He's here... for bus'ness." He turns back to Serenity who was staring at her brother with innocence and fear. He flinched, badly, and wanted to cry. He wanted to take away her fear and tell her that everything is alright. He wanted the bastard who was smirking with victory to disappear and leave his sister alone. He also wanted to apologize and just forget what the CEO just said to them. However, he could not forget how much gratitude Joey had for Yugi to repay for Serenity's surgery. He cleared his throat and recomposed himself.

"Serenity. Do ya know why ya are here? Even it's against everyone's will an' promise we a' keep foreva?" She shook her head with a questioning look. Seto smirked.

"Get on with it mutt. After all, you did say it's a will and promise that you keep for your 'friends'." Joey glared at the CEO of Kaiba Corp.

"Stay out of dis, dammit!" She looked at Kaiba and back to her brother.

"Big brother? What are you talking about? What will?" Joey looked at his sister and bowed his head. He clenched his fists tightly until his knuckles are white and bit his bottom lip.

"Ya know dat I promise to Yuge dat you an' I wou'd help our friends on any problem, right?" Serenity nodded, remembering the promise that everyone made after graduation. They promised to support each other and try to help anyway they can either close to each other or far away.

"Well... we can't 'cuz moneybags here won't let us. Hell, he won't let us come visit or help anyone near us." Serenity stood there shocked. In other words in Serenity's vocabulary of Joey's simple words, Seto was restricting visits on certain people: Joey and Mai, Bakura, Yugi, Tea, Tristan, Duke, Rebecca, and almost everyone in the gang! However, the multibillion dollar businessman didn't know that Mokuba, Marik, and Tara were now part of the group, right?

Right. However...

"But... but what does this have... to do with me?" Serenity stutters, being unsure what the situation has to do with her in the picture. Joey took two deep breaths like he was controlling something that wanted to burst out inside of him.

"Ren, everyone and I don' wanna do this in our entire lives."

"Get on with it, mutt." Seto smirked when he felt Joey's death glare on him. Joey bowed his head and placed his hand on Serenity's shoulder.

"Serenity Wheeler. I've been forced to arrange a marriage between you and Seto Kaiba."

Serenity's eyes widened with shock, and her heart was broken in half. She, the normal girl who has a secret kept inside away from her friends, was going to marry to Seto Kaiba, the famous CEO of Kaiba Corporation and coldhearted jerk, by force.

0000

Marik sighed in defeat and looked up in the sky that was filled with stars. Tara was smiling triumphantly as a mini her, wearing a yellow shirt, blue shorts, and yellow sneakers, was sleeping on the older her was giving the mini her a ride on her back. They were walking down the sidewalk after the duel of student against teacher. The student was victorious while the teacher gave her his card that he hated the most. Yeah, there were a lot of people watching the duel, but... this is just minor. When Tara and Marik walked out of the Arcade, a little girl, resembling a young Tara, ran toward the older Tara and hugged her legs. Marik was stunned to see two Taras, but Tara cleared everything up, introducing him to her little sister, Izayoi Strong. Her parents came around and met Marik, noticing that he was glancing at Tara a lot. Her dad was... how should I say this like every father would be when they meet a boy thinking he is dating the daughter... oh yeah... scary. Her mother was a lot nicer and wanting to make sure that Marik and Tara would get together, even it was against her husband's trust. Izayoi didn't understand what was going on, but she played with Marik like he was her older brother.

"I can't believe I lost to you... again." Marik sighed, combing his loose hair through this tanned fingers. He was wearing violet jeans, white T-shirt, and a grey vest. His right wrist has a red wristwatch that had red neon lights, showing it was 7:34 in the evening.

"I can't believe that I still got my life points lower than ever. Were you... customizing your deck?" Tara asked with curiosity. Marik had his eyes wide with disbelief.

"You mean... all this time, I was fighting the same cards for three times?" Tara nodded.

"Yeah. The problem is that I don't know a place where I could get new cards. I couldn't get other cards because 1) family business and 2) some of the packets are expensive." Marik nodded, understanding that she was still getting familiar to some places but not so familiar to other places. Also, Tara was working in a shop with her family, selling flowers and rare kinds of flowers.

"So... you want me to help you find a shop that sells cards that are less expensive, right?" Tara's eyes lit up and gave him a small smile.

"You'll do that for me?" Marik blushed a bit to see her eyes lit up from her dark colored eyes. He nodded.

"Well... yeah. Besides, you won, so you deserved something more than winning cards. Heck, I'll buy you some new packets." Tara stared at Marik with a slight shock and kind of stuttered when his offering was heard.

"Marik! You don't have to do that for me. I mean... buying the new packets... I'm grateful for that, but..." Marik smiled in amusement and happiness to see his crush stuttering like she doesn't know what she was talking about.

"It's alright, Tara. I don't mind." Tara smiled, making his heart skip a beat.

"I would hug you, Marik, but I have a little sister, who doesn't like to be disturbed by anyone touching her, on my back." Marik blushed harder that his tanned face couldn't cover his cheeks from turning red. Being the second oblivious girl, Tara didn't noticed the blush on his cheeks. Then, the moment was ruined by the cellphone playing "Traveling" by Utada Hikaru, meaning that Serenity was calling. Tara sighed and took her cellphone from her left pocket, handing the cellphone to Marik who doesn't have a kid on his back. Marik flipped the cellphone open and put it to speaker mode, letting them hear what their friend has to say.

"Hello. Marik Ishtar speaking."

"And Tara Strong speaking. What's up, Seren?" Tara asked.

"Tara? ...Marik?" The two teens stopped and looked at the phone like it just sprouted horns and at each other. Serenity sounded like she had been crying. Probably, she was.

"Serenity? What's wrong?" Tara asked. Something was wrong, and Tara was going to find out what made her cry.

"Um... could you go to somewhere quiet where no one could... hear what I'm going to say?" The two teens exchanged glances at each other and back to the phone.

"Alright. Hold on. Tara's house is very close from here, so we'll discuss it in her house." Marik said. Serenity agreed, and the two walked toward the house one block away in silence, quickly. They didn't even dare speak one word to break the silence because they might break Serenity into pieces.

0000

Serenity was in the bedroom, staring at her cellphone that was on speaker mode on the mini desk. She didn't feel like holding the phone to her ear like usual. She was sitting on a chair with her head resting on her arms on the desk. Her eyes were a bit red and puffy from crying, and her nose sniffled a bit. Her hair lost its shine and was messed up a bit. Her eyes went dim from the sudden event that happened in Game Shop. Her clothes were changed into cotton pajamas that had clouds. On her left hand, a golden ring was slipped in her ring finger. She shuddered. She didn't even know what kind of feeling was she shuddering. Was it fear, or was it happiness?

_"In a month, our wedding will begin in the entrance of my mansion, my sweet Serenity. Just smile for the camera on our wedding day, and everything will be alright."_

Serenity couldn't block off the words that came right out of Seto's mouth. She could still feel his possessive arms wrapped around her, his chiseled chest on her back, his hot breath puffing behind her ear and neck, his nose nuzzling in her hair, and his chin resting on her shoulder. Now, she shivered, badly. Her heartbeat intensified, and the blood went up to her head. Before Serenity got back home from Seto's limousine, she remembered how Joey promised her to find a way to help her get out of this situation.

_Flashback_

_"What?" Serenity took a step back and another slowly. Was her own ears deceiving her? Serenity... was... marrying... to... Seto... Kaiba? The little nobody but known as the mutt's sister was marrying to the well known somebody who is a multibillion businessman and owns almost half of the companies around the world? No... this isn't right. This has to be a joke. How could she deal with this that is now taking a HUGE chunk of her life? What about her secret? She would rather duel ten of the hooded men than having Seto Kaiba marrying her. How could her own brother do this to her?_

_"Ren. Please, lis'en to me." Joey took a step forward trying to reach to his little sister, but Serenity shook her head with watery eyes, avoiding the touch of her own brother._

_"No..." Serenity whispered._

_"Ren." Now, the two women rushed in behind Serenity, catching her as she collapsed behind. Serenity's knees couldn't stand up on its own, so she clutched on both Tea and Mai's arms like they were her last line of hope. She protested with her eyes squeezed tight as tears streamed down her face._

_"No! You can't do this to me, big brother! I don't want to marry him!" Joey winced and turned his head away, hearing his own sister shout at him with anger... with surprise... with sadness. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed. She started to quiet down as she whispered with hiccups and sniffles._

_"I'm too young, big brother. You have to understand, Joey. I'm too young. How could you do this to me?" Serenity felt pats on her back and gentle rubs on her back by the two women of the group._

_"Serenity. Please calm down. Listen to Joey." Tea said. _

_"He's not doing this because he wants to._ _You know your brother better than anyone else. Remember the promise we all made?" Mai asked. Serenity nodded slightly and whispered, slowing down her tears from her eyes._

_"We will always be there for each other: near and far, thick and thin, in good times and bad... no matter what." Tea and Mai smiled as Serenity calmed down from her shock. They heard a "Hmph" from the CEO, thinking he wanted attention from them._

_"Well... pardon me for interrupting this soap opera scene, but it's time for me to take Serenity home, mutts." Seto stood up and started to walk toward our heroine, but Joey blocked Seto's back by intercepting his sight from his little sister's body._

_"I let ya marry her, not touch her, moneybags! An' don' call us mutts!" Joey growled at Seto, who just smirked and pushed Joey aside and walked toward the girl who was protected by the arms of the women. Yugi stood up and ran to Joey's side._

_"Kaiba. Please. Just lift up the restraining order. Duke and Tristan need our help." This made Seto laugh, cruelly._

_"As long as the girl marries me, I am in no concern on what you all do." Seto walked closer to Serenity, but Tea and Mai held on to the poor fragile girl. Serenity whispered._

_"Could... could I say goodbye at first?" There was silence filling in the room. Serenity expected a yank from Seto or just left alone by the CEO..._

_"Fine, but I expect you to be outside in one minute. If you are not out at the exact time, I'll come back here and take you back." But... she wasn't expecting that! Seto walked out of the Game Shop, leaving Serenity to the group for a minute. Everyone in the shop felt horrible when this happened. Yugi, Tea, Mai, or Joey couldn't look at Serenity, ashamed of forcing the young girl to marry the coldhearted jerk. Joey slowly walked toward the girl and wrapped his arms around the young petite girl. Tea and Mai backed off a bit, but they never left the young girl's side. Yugi and Solomon walked toward the brother and sister, wanting to help calm the two siblings if one or both broke down into tears._

_"I'm so sorry, Ren. I promise dat I'll never do dat again. I'll find a way for you to not marry dat bastard. We'll all find a way for dis." Serenity looked up and saw Joey, crying. His grip around her tightened as more tears slid down. Serenity hugged him back a little and gave everyone a sad smile._

_"It's okay, everyone. I'll marry him. I want Tristan and Duke to have the help they need from everyone. They are like older brothers to me. I'm grateful that I meet great people like you. If you weren't all here, I would still be probably be alone and wouldn't learn what was it like to have true friends." She looked up at the clock, not sure about how many seconds she had left with them. The two loosened their grip and released each other._

_"I better go, everyone. I'll see you later." Serenity gave Tea and Mai a hug, then Yugi and Solomon, and finally her big brother, Joey Wheeler. She looked at the door where a limousine was in the front door. She looked back to the gang who had their heads down._

_"Please. Look up and smile for me. It makes me not happy when you all are not happy." Everyone looked up, but they didn't even smile. Joey held on Serenity's shoulders, making her look at Joey._

_"I'll find a way. Dat I promise. I am supposed to protect you. I'm going to find a way to fix the mistake I made." He let go of his sister's shoulder. She smiled a bit. Joey did care for her after all. It's just that he was forced to do this because his... no... their friends are in need of help. She bowed and turned around, walking toward the exit. She held the door knob and twisted it, entering her complicated life._

_End of Flashback_

Her mind was interrupted by the muffling sounds from the cellphone. Serenity sighed a bit, wishing her two friends to be prepared for the news.

0000

When they reached to the house, the door was already opened as the mother was sorting out flowers in her front yard.

"Mom! We're here, but Marik and I are going to the living room to discuss with Serenity on... um... project. So, if dad gets back, tell him that Marik is here for the project. " Tara spoke quickly.

"M'kay! Just put Izayoi to bed, and do what you want." Her mother agreed, not looking up to see Marik holding the cellphone open. Marik walked toward the living room that yellow walls. The room had a couch facing the television that was next to the glass sliding doors. There was a coffee table, distancing the couch and the television. There were also two single chairs that were beside both sides of the coffee table, facing toward each other. Marik placed the cellphone down in the middle of the table and sat on the couch. From the corner of his eye, Tara was coming down the stairs without her hooded jacket and revealing her black tank top.

"Sorry that I took a little longer, guys. My baby sister has a firm grip on my jacket, so I have to slip through without waking up Izayoi." She was walking toward the nearby chair and sat on hit with her knees on the arm of the chair.

"So... what's going on, Seren? We both know something happened to you wherever you went, so fill us in the news." They could hear Serenity taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

"Alright. You, guys. You both are going to be shocked... and probably wanting an explanation about this sudden event. I'm..."

0000

"Big brother! You're back!" Mokuba turned his head and focus on his brother instead his almost finished homework. He was sitting on the couch with books on his right side and a backpack on his left. On the coffee table, there were unfinished books lying in subjects. It looks like Mokuba is almost finished with homework. Just two more to go, and he's all done. Seto smiled and ruffled his little brother's head, earning a "Hey!" from the kid brother. Well... actually, he's a preteen now but still...

"How was your day, Mokuba?" Seto asked. Mokuba smiled whenever he asked that question.

"It was great! I get to hang out with my best friends and got protected from my fan club. I do feel sorry for the girls, but I needed to hang out with some important friends." Seto looked like he winced, but he recomposed himself to be the emotionless CEO. Seto nodded and walked toward his own desk. Mokuba sighed, thankfully not blowing up their covers. He knew that Seto didn't know that Tara was one of his friends, but for the other two...

_I just hope he doesn't find out._

"Ah, yes. Mokuba, I have news for you that you might like to hear." Mokuba rolled his eyes and worked on his homework, Algebra II. He knew that this importance of Seto's disinterested Mokuba when it was relating to business.

"What is it?" Seto glanced at his brother and back to his laptop. Hopefully, Mokuba could take this seriously.

"I'm..."

0000

At the same time in two different places, the three shouted... in surprise. Well... their shout made everyone snapped their heads toward the direction of where the shout came from.

"**_WHAT!_**"

**Okay... I have to stop here because I have to study and get my grade up until Christmas. High school finals plus junior year is a pain. It's going to be on hiatus until finals are done.**


	5. Decision

**A note for everyone: Thank you, TSOH, for telling me about the story from Jmeg. JMeg, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make the story similar to yours. This story just popped out of my head for no apparent reason. I have a mind full of creativity and random surprises.**

Chapter 5: Decision

Today was Sunday, and it meant the "Hang Out" day for the four of them. However, this "Hang Out" day was now about "How Did This All Happen" Day due to the Friday's news. Marik and Tara didn't push Serenity to explain to them because Serenity just broke down a while ago and gave her a day to recover from her breakdown, but Marik said that Tara and his sister, Ishizu, would visit her and comfort her any way they can. Mokuba called later and apologized a lot about his brother's forceful actions. The twelve year old boy said that he would tell his brother to call off the wedding, but Serenity said it was all right. Mokuba asked why, and Serenity explained to him that she and the previous gang made a promise before they disbanded. Mokuba understood what she tried to talk about, and Serenity made a promise to the younger Kaiba that she would take care of both of the brothers the best she can and be there for him and Seto Kaiba. Mokuba was very happy to hear that Serenity would take care of him. She was like a sister he never had and a mother who would spend time with her children, even though the mother is young and does not have her own.

When Saturday came, Serenity was cleaning up the apartment for the two of her friends. When she finally finished cleaning up, in the nick of time, the door bell rang. She let Tara and Ishizu come in and make themselves comfortable with tea and some snacks. They talked about other things to get their minds off of yesterday's event until Serenity asked Ishizu if she knew.

Surprisingly, the answer was yes.

This caused Serenity to have her eyes wide and Tara almost spit out the warm liquid and looked at Marik's sister with wide eyes. Since Tara already believed that there was unseen magic due to having some magic herself, the black haired girl believed that there were more unseen magic. Ishizu already saw the future before she dueled Seto in the blimp and said that she couldn't do anything to prevent it. The two girls nodded in understanding, and they discussed that whether or not should Serenity marry Seto Kaiba. Ishizu ended the discussion by saying that it is up to Serenity to decide. Tara reluctantly gave in and told Serenity that she should take her time to decide. In the evening, the two thanked the auburn haired girl and said their farewells.

Right now, it was Sunday, and Serenity had a lot of thinking of positives and negatives all night. The positives were that marrying the CEO would lift the restraining order from all of her friends, hang around with Mokuba a little more, learn why did Seto chose Serenity, out of all the girls, to marry him, and so on about her friends and curiosity. The negatives... well... it was mostly hiding her secret, dealing with the press, don't let anyone spread the news about her being his fiancee, and so on that is related to her secret and what rich people deal with a lot. Well... now one of them had more details, and she finally decided what her answer will be. She hoped that Tara, her friends, and her family would deal with this decision of hers.

She put on her grey vest over her white shirt and took her keys in her blue jean shorts. She tapped the tip of her blue sneakers and took her blue birdie wallet in her other pocket. When the door bell rang, she smiled and walked to the door.

_Just in time._

Serenity took the handle of the door and opened to reveal... three guys?

_Where's Tara?_

Mokuba was wearing his old clothes when the Battle City Tournament started, but the clothes were larger. Marik was wearing a light violet tank top with a black chinese dragon on the front right side and black jeans that had chain accessories done by Tara Strong herself.

Mokuba and Marik were in front of her, but who's the new kid?

The new kid was wearing black baggy pants and black sneakers. He was also wearing a red sweater that the collar of the sweater almost covering his mouth. He was wearing sunglasses and a red cap. Serenity blinked and looked closely. No one could wear this, unless...

Serenity smiled and greeted.

"Hey, Marik, Mokuba..." She smiled evilly and glanced at the mysterious person.

"...Tara." The mysterious person took the cap, letting her black hair that was concealed in there drop down to her chin length, and sunglasses off, revealing dark olive eyes that had fire in them, and pulled the collar down, showing her mouth scowling, to reveal the Dragon Duelist of Red Eyes Black Dragon, Tara Strong. The black haired girl glared at her best friend who was smiling like a cherish cat, and the boys were shaking their heads with a smile on their faces.

"I told you that Serenity could recognize you." Mokuba informed. Tara pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fine. I'll get rid of the collar and sunglasses." Serenity and Tara are the only girls who knew that Tara has a slightly flat chest, so many people mistaken her as a guy when she wears a shirt and pants. Serenity giggled and ruffled her best friend's hair, making her look like a guy.

"Nice try. By the way, why are you cross dressing?" She asked. The three noticed her sudden paleness and shudder, and Tara shook her head making her hair look more wild.

"I'm hiding from someone." The three looked at each other and back at her.

"Who?" Marik asked. Tara gave each of them a look of slight fear and confusion until she gave them two words.

"My cousin." Mokuba press on, but he was actually pressing Tara's buttons.

"Who?" She slightly glared at the twelve year old and sighed. If he wasn't Seto's little brother and Serenity's soon to be brother-in-law...

"Don't push it." She placed the cap over her head, and Tara was definitely looking like a guy. The three looked at each other and shrugged, concluding their little teasing to an end. The two boys were ahead while the girls were close behind them just in case if any members of their fanclub, except Tara's, are nearby.

"Hey..." Tara whispered to Serenity. Serenity, wishing that she had her book with her, was now paying attention to her best friend.

"Hmm?"

"So? Your decision?" Serenity nodded, knowing what she asked.

"I have decided." Tara rose an eyebrow, ready to hear what was her choice.

"I'll marry him. I can't let my friends down or continue to suffer." Tara didn't protest or anything, but she sighed and patted Serenity's head to make sure that Serenity wouldn't feel guilty or ashamed on anything.

"As long as you are responsible on your actions, I can't stop you in any way. However, I will help you hide your secret anyway I can. I'll try to cover you up from getting busted." Serenity looked up with surprise and then smiled. Tara could be forgiving on some occasions...

"Hey! Hurry up! I wanna go to the arcade and duel Serenity again! This time, I'm gonna win!" Mokuba shouted that sounded that they were ahead of the girls. The two girls looked forward and saw the guys far away. They smiled and walked forward to catch up with the guys.

It finally decided. Serenity chose to get married to Seto, and Tara would try to get Serenity out from problematic situations. But... right now. They'll enjoy their time left together today by watching Mokuba duel against Serenity.

0000

The next day was going to be either interesting or hell when Serenity will enter Domino High's school grounds. She sighed and tapped her shoes. Fully dressed and completed homework packed in her school bag case, Serenity would take all of the responsibilities as a student, fiancee, and a Dragon Duelist. Through that door in front of her will determine her strange fate that changed her normal life to a complicated one. She took a deep breath and exhaled, grabbing the door knob and twisting it.

_This is it. I just hope that no rumors would spread about me and Kaiba getting married until next few days._

She pushed the door open and step out of her apartment. The morning was sunny and beautiful like yesterday. She could hear children laughing while walking down the streets, birds chirping in trees, and other people talking and walking down the roads for work or shopping. However, it was stopped by the awes of the people crowding around the front of the apartment rooms. She blinked and took a closer look at what the crowd were awing.

_Oh... Ra..._

She now wanted to hid into the background or run quickly as possible. There, where the crowd was staring at, was a limousine... with the Kaiba Corp. initial. The chauffeur opened the door on the back to reveal the CEO of Kaiba Corp, Seto Kaiba, having the mask of coldness. He stepped out of the limo, and the crowd stepped aside to let him through and see who was getting picked up by Seto himself.

Serenity just stood still like a statue and couldn't do anything! She could have run to the other direction away from the man or freeze time, trained by Tara herself, and run to school straight. However, her body was paralyzed and couldn't obey her brain. She was standing there like a sitting duck, and here he was, wearing his black turtle neck sleeved shirt and black pants. He had three straps across on his forearms and three straps on his black boots. His violet trench coat flowed behind him as he walked toward the petrified girl. His body towered over here when he was a foot closer to Serenity. She shivered either by his cold gaze or his gaze on her. Damn him and his stare!

"Come. I'll take you to school."

She blinked. Did he just say that he would take her to school? THE coldhearted Seto Kaiba taking the forced-to-be-married Serenity to school? Then, again, they are going to get married, so he has to spend time with her. While her mind went blank, she nodded and followed the oldest Kaiba brother without him repeating. The crowd was now whispering to each other, making Serenity pale and sweat little by little. Most of the jealous whispers are from the girls and women.

"Seto Kaiba is here?"

"I thought Mokuba was here to pick up his friends."

"Why is the CEO here?"

"Who does she think she is?"

"Did Serenity-chan do something to upset the man, okaasan?"

"What the hell? He's my man."

"Whatever she did to him, I could do better."

When they reached to the limo, Seto took her left petite hand with his large right hand and close hers with his. Serenity now ignored the crowd and slightly blushed as the crowd gasped and talked a little more, and the girls had fire in their eyes with pure vicious jealousy. (AN: Man, I love putting up big words.) Her legs went automatic, and she walked in the limousine. When she got in, she saw Mokuba inside with his bag ready.

"Serenity! How are you?" The auburn haired girl smiled as she watched the young boy smiled happily like he has no care in the world. She took a seat across the younger Kaiba.

"I'm fine. I customized my deck last night after the duel against the five last challengers." Mokuba nodded. However, he was thinking why Serenity only took the weakest and hated monster cards from their decks. He was about to open his mouth to ask him, but he was cut off when his older brother got in and sat next to Serenity. Mokuba glared slightly at his brother who forced this innocent girl to marry him.

Why would his brother do that to her? She did nothing to him but help him in his classes and help out the mansion. She understood how painful the two brothers went through and how busy they are. She also didn't deserve to be forced to marry his brother. Mokuba knew that Seto had a teenager's crush on the girl, but... pushing to the highest level? That was a bit too much.

Well... you are all wondering why she helped out in Kaiba's mansion, right? Well, she took a job as a maid in the last summer and did everything she could in their mansion. Clean, cook, wash, whatever maids and butlers do. (Joey didn't know this because she was too oblivious to everything when she was busy or studying.) Mokuba later found out next week and found out that she did a great job on everything. Every day they entered their mansion, it was very clean, and all fifty rooms were taken care of. Also, she prepared the table filled with delicious food, even their favorites. Seto didn't know that Serenity was working as a job and said to the other maid that whoever did all this will have his or her salary raised. The head maid told Serenity that she was getting a better salary, but Serenity refused the extra pay because she felt it was unfair to the others who were working in the mansion. That surprised the two Kaibas, but it surprised Seto the most. Mokuba didn't know what to say to the auburn haired girl. She was too kind toward others and selfless toward others.

Well... back to the story. Here was Mokuba, Serenity, and Seto in the limousine. Seto flinched a little when he saw his own brother's glare. Who knew he had the blood in him.

"Mokuba..." The two boys looked at Serenity. Mokuba stopped his glare and look at Serenity who was looking at the younger Kaiba with a motherly look. That surprised the two boys. Who knew that there was a mother side of Serenity.

"Serenity..." Mokuba whined. He and she knew that they both have the right to scold the older Kaiba who did something terrible and ruined her life, but why is she being sisterly... or motherly all of a sudden?

"Please, don't be mad at your own brother, Mokuba. We both know that this isn't right, but he must have his reasons. So, please... forgive your brother." Her voice sounded pleading and crying that Mokuba couldn't glare at Seto anymore. He sighed and looked at Seto.

"Sorry, big brother for glaring at you." Seto's heart softened when Mokuba and Serenity were now forgiving toward him when he did a terrible thing toward Serenity against her will. However, his emotionless expression did not deter, and his eyes looked at the window.

"Forgiven." The two teens gave each other a surprised look and back to Seto, not believing that he just forgave them after they forgave him. They wondered and thought at the same time.

_Maybe... it's not a bad decision after all._

0000

"We're here!" Mokuba announced when the three saw the buildings of Domino High. Serenity took a deep breath and exhaled, feeling her heart speeding up in fear about something. When Mokuba got out of the limousine, Seto rose an eyebrow and looked at Serenity who was shaking lightly and exhaling louder while looking outside of the limousine. He silently scooted closer and whisper behind her right ear.

"What are you so afraid of, Serenity?" He smirked when her breathing hitched up to her throat and made a small squeak from her throat. He also saw the corner of her cheeks turning red and her ears turning slight pink. Seto's smirk turned into a frown and glare as he caught what Serenity was scared of.

Fanboys and fangirls... in other words, Serenity's fanclub and Seto's old fanclub. The boys were snarling at the young man getting close to Serenity, while the girls were glaring at the girl inside the limo. He heard Serenity's normal breathing and let her turn around to give him a normal smile.

"I'm just nervous about school, Seto. I have a test coming up first." Seto knew that she was lying because of the secret she has and the rumors going to spread out like wildfire, but the smile looked so cute that made Seto blush and look away.

_Dammit. She's so cute._

Serenity got out of the limousine, turned around to face Seto, and bowed politely.

"Thank you, Mr. Kaiba, for the ride. I must go now." Seto frowned and nodded to the girl. He rolled up the window and told the chauffeur to drive to his college. When Serenity was out of sight in the back, he thought about what Serenity did. He didn't like the formal gratitude from his own fiancee not because he wanted to embarrass her in front of public. No... he didn't want that. Serenity was too kind, innocent, caring, and pure to be harmed by anyone. He wanted her to not feel afraid or embarrassed when he is around. He wanted her to be loved and feel that there are some who cared to be with her, and he will be the first guy in her life to stay with her, not anyone else. He may have hurt her by forcing her to marry him, but Seto silently promised himself to make up the wrong thing he did toward her. He sniffed a sweet fragrance in the air mixed with his and Mokuba's. He didn't like sweet smells, but... this was soothing and exceptional.

_Strawberries? Cute..._

Yep. Serenity and Mokuba were right. It's not a bad decision at all.


	6. Kirasa and Serenity

**Merry Late Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! Including the two of you, TSOH and JMeg!**

Chapter 6: Kirasa and Serenity

"Hold it right there, Wheeler!" Serenity stopped and turned around to see three girls that were a year older than her, standing behind her with their palms on their hips. She tilted her head to the right in confusion.

"Yes?"

"What in the world were you doing in there with Seto Kaiba?" The long blond haired girl with blue eyes glared at the short auburn haired girl. She answered the obvious.

"I was riding with him and Mokuba. Why?" The short brown haired girl with brown eyes and a blue headband snorted.

"Were you pestering him to get a ride because you don't have your own? Oh! Yeah! That's what you did! Pester him until he couldn't stand it anymore. What else would that little head of yours do?" The other girl with green eyes and wavy black hair snickered, thinking that they hurt Serenity. They all laughed cruelly with their eyes closed and finally opened their eyes, seeing Serenity reading a book that interested her instead of the gang. They stopped laughing and grew angry, feeling insulted by the book that made Serenity ignoring them. They were about to grab the book and Serenity's shoulder, but a voice rang out from behind them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The three girls turned around to see Tara and Marik. Marik looked at the three girls with his eyebrow up, and Tara looked like she was just up by rubbing her left eye to wake up. The girls glared at the black haired girl but couldn't glare at Marik because he looked so hot being confused. (AN: I agree!)

"Why? Tell us why we shouldn't grab Wheeler for some questions, Strong." The blonde spat venomously at the girl in front of them, but Tara didn't catch their hatred from the words. She shrugged, feeling like she doesn't want to deal with this when she is still sleepy.

"Fine. Go ahead." The three girls smirked triumphantly and turned around to grab the auburn haired girl. However, Tara added a warning before going around that would be soon cat fight... or cats and mouse with Marik following the black haired girl like a little puppy.

"But I warn you this once. You will all make a fool out of yourselves." The three girls stopped for a little while and thought about how will this junior will make an embarrassment out of the seniors. They shrugged, thinking that Tara was just bluffing, and tried to grab Serenity. However, what they grab is nothing. They blinked stupidly and turned around, spotting Serenity who was still reading the book right behind them. She had her back turn, making them think that she had her guard down. They tried tackling her to the ground, but now the three girls hit the wood in front of them. The girls now had an annoyance leaking through their veins and pain throbbing on their head. The gang turned their heads to the right and saw Serenity leaning with her back on the wall... still reading the book. They should have consider taking Tara's warning. Oh well...

0000

"I thought you were bluffing." Marik whistled while hearing the crashes, thuds, and footsteps coming. He had his head down to the stairs to hear the commotion more clearly, while Tara was leaning on the wall. Tara, still sleepy, was stating the obvious.

"I wasn't." Marik blinked and looked up to see Tara rubbing her right eye. He became worried, stood up straight, and walked toward the sleepy girl. He grabbed her right hand that was still rubbing and pulled her hand aside. He blushed ten shades of red when he saw sleepy big eyes, the mouth frowning slightly, and her slightly pointed nose.

_Oh Ra. She looks so cute._

"Stop rubbing your eyes. They will get infected." He scolded lightly. She used her other hand to rub the left eye.

"Hey. Try getting a little sibling back to sleep after he or she got a nightmare in three o' clock in the morning. Let's see if you enjoy getting only three hours of sleep." Tara protested with an unfocused glare. Marik chuckled and let go of her hand. She was never a whiner like the other girls and never cry over something meaningless. She could be stubborn and kind towards others, but she wasn't like the other girls. She was like a rough diamond that is waiting to be claimed by another person to smooth the rough edges, and Marik will be the first one to claim her and take care of her like she was part of his family... maybe in the future. He thought of something to wake her up before she will get in trouble. Marik's mind brought him a memory to take something in his mouth just in case he was about to sleep. He dug into his right pocket and took out an edible red marble-size ball.

"Take this." Tara blinked sleepily at the ball and back at the Egyptian boy.

"What is it?"

"It's what Ishizu made whenever I feel sleepy. Don't worry. It's not a drug." The black haired girl trusted Marik and nodded. She took the ball and popped it in her mouth. With a split second, her eyes were wide and awake. She felt her eyes water but held them back with blinks. Her voice was back from its sleep but was making coughs and loudness.

"What's in this! (cough)... Horse radish? (cough)... it's hot (cough)..." She made a gulp to let the ball down to her throat, making her throat burn and down to her stomach. She cough her last and panted from the burning fire in her mouth. She narrowed her eyes at Marik who was whistling like nothing happened.

"What did your sister put in that ball?" She asked while making her mouth twitch to get rid of the remaining strong burn from her sensitive mouth. Marik shrugged and smirked, making her tap her foot in annoyance.

"Ishizu put something inside there very spicy to wake up anyone who feels like they are going to fall asleep." Tara sighed and nodded, believing what he said. After all, he and his family were from Egypt.

"Well... thanks, Marik, for the little wake up ball, but next time... warn me about the spicy ingredients. Oh, and tell Ishizu that I said thanks." Marik chuckled and ruffled Tara's hair, earning a "Hey! Knock it off!" from the girl.

They finally heard an adult shouting at the three girls' names, telling them what the hell were they making such a commotion. The three girls were blaming on Wheeler, but she was reading a book without a scratch on. The teachers were angry and scolded the three girls, leaving out Serenity who was now walking upstairs with her bag case on her left hand and a book on her right hand. The two teens were amazed by how she could read the book with consciousness on one side while her unconscious side was silently alerting her body to move and where to walk. When Serenity closed the book, she looked up, and her eyes widened with surprise while her jaw dropped.

"You... two... are together?" The two teens looked at each other with confusion. Then, they realized what she said and blushed like a tomato. They almost had a whiplash and protested.

"NO!" Serenity was confused and tilted her head to the right.

"So why does Tara had her cheeks red, her lips a little swollen, and her hair disheveled?" Serenity was looking at Tara who turned her head away with a scowl on her face.

"I was sleepy, and Marik gave me a little medicine that woke me up... painfully..." She glanced at Marik who rubbed his neck with a blush on his cheeks. "... and he ruffled my hair."

Serenity sighed and nodded her head. Well... she was hoping for those two to get together before Marik graduates from Domino High.

"Serenity?"

"Hmm?" Tara blinked and tilted her head to the left.

"You do know that almost every female in this district will hunt you down when they find out that you are getting, I spell, M...A...R...R...I...E...D... to him once the rumors spread out in the city, do you?" Serenity paled, remembering the whispers from outside. Tara sighed and wanted to slap her forehead.

"Figures."

0000

The bell rung in the afternoon, signaling every student that school is over for today. Many started to pack up and leave for home, and others volunteered to clean up the school. Tara volunteered to clean up because her cousin was somewhere in the city either walking around or looking for her. Mokuba went back to the company to deal with the new designed Duel Disks, and Marik went to the museum to help Ishizu observe the new artifacts from his homeland. Serenity was the only one walking back home, making sure no one was following her.

Serenity sighed as she walked down the road after school. Her life was too complicated and full of major responsibilities: being Seto's fiancee, running away from his fan club, and not to mention about being responsible for being the Dragon Duelist of Blue Eyes White Dragon.

**"Looks like you are having trouble planning all this out. Mind if I help?"**

Serenity smiled slightly to hear the woman's voice.

"Hey, Kirasa."

Serenity and Kirasa met each other in a dream on the first day when Tara and Serenity first met. She remembered the day that Serenity was shocked by the history about Kirasa and who the woman was.

_Flashback_

_It was after school, and the two girls were walking down the road to the museum. During school, Serenity introduced Tara to Marik and Mokuba in lunchtime. Serenity noticed a blush from the Egyptian boy who was staring at Tara who was clueless about her surroundings. She smiled about that thought and will get those two together... someway. Right now, after winning the duel by Tara's Gaia the Fierce Knight, chatting, arguing, getting in trouble, cleaning up the classrooms and hallway, and apologizing a lot, they were walking down the road that Serenity took with Tara following._

_"So how do you know your friend? Any occurrences that happened that caused you two to meet?" Tara asked in curiosity. Serenity nodded._

_"It's rather a long and awkward story to begin with-"_

_"C'mon. I believe in those stuff after I got my unknown powers. Trust me. Even though your story is bizarre and long, I experienced bizarre events myself in America. So my story would be long, bizarre, and boring."_

_Serenity giggled at her new friend's sarcastic and truthful statement. During their walk, Serenity explained the Battle City Finals, the duel, the strange events that have happened while riding on the blimp. When she finished, Tara was shocked and couldn't believe that her ears were deceiving her. She blinked, and the first word came out of her mouth._

_"Whoa..." She rubbed her neck._

_"That's some wicked adventure you experienced there. That has got to be more adventurous than mine. Looks like you have more experience on this than I thought." Serenity nodded solemnly._

_"Yeah. My first duel was scary there." Tara patted her friend's shoulder and smiled._

_"Every first duel is a scary experience, Seren. Whether you win or lose, you'll have fun in the future. Your first might have scared you, but today's duel was better than the first one... isn't?" Serenity smiled back to her friend and had a little more confidence in her._

_"Yeah. Oh! By the way..."_

_"Hmm?" Serenity smiled but in an impish way._

_"Watch out in front of you." Tara looked ahead and-_

_**THUD!**_

_0000_

_"That was not funny..." The black haired girl pouted while the auburn girl stifled her giggles. They were in the museum right now and exploring the place to find the manager of the museum from room to room. After the incident, Tara thought that she had been hanging around with Serenity a bit too long that her past mischievous personality must have transfered to her friends._

_"It is." Serenity continued to giggle._

_"Running into a pole is not, Seren." She growled. Serenity's giggle faded and looked at Tara with bright eyes._

_"For you, but not for me." Tara touched her nose, testing out if her collision of the pole still hurt her face. No sting._

_"Good. The sting is gone. Well... where is your friend?" _

_"I know that she's somewhere in here. Either that she is in her office or showed some rich people around... why?" Tara shrugged and looked around the paintings._

_"I was told that someone in Battle City would give me something that would change my destiny." When Serenity was about to open her mouth to ask a question, a tap on both of the girls made them jump, scream, and hug each other with their eyes shut tight._

_"KYAAAA!" They stopped about five seconds ago and cracked one of their eyes open to see Ishizu holding two of her hands up with a sweat drop on her head._

_"Umm... are you two okay?" The girls nodded and looked at each other, realizing that they were hugging each other. They jumped apart and coughed to regain composure._

_"Ishizu. We need to talk somewhere private." The Egyptian woman blinked and nodded._

_"Follow me to my office." The two girls bowed in politeness and gratitude._

_"Thank you." The three girls walked around the museum's hall while Serenity was always calling and dragging Tara back to the group in a hallway full of interesting paintings. They also passed some rooms that were pitch black in darkness, unable to reveal somethings to the public. Serenity was curious of the new rooms that hold a new discovery. After a few turns and almost losing Tara by her curiosity, the girls finally got to the front door where Ishizu worked. On Ishizu's left, Serenity stood beside her while Tara was behind them on the Egyptian woman's right._

_"This museum is bigger than I imagine." Tara stated. Serenity sighed as she couldn't believe that her new friend was such a curious cat._

_"Come in, girls." Ishizu opened the wooden door and revealed her newly arranged huge office. The work desk was still in the back, but the wall behind it now has two huge windows that other people could see the created gardens. There were two chairs on both sides of the desk. There was a huge bookshelf on the left side, and a covered up case on the right side, waiting to be revealed. The woman walked toward her desk and walked around it in order to sit on her chair._

_"Please. Sit." The two girls looked at each other with a serious look on their faces. The two faced her and shook their heads._

_"Sorry, Ishizu. It might be better to explain." Serenity stated. Ishizu nodded in understanding._

_"All right. Now, what is it the two of you need me to talk about?" The two girls looked at each other and shrugged, rather to take this straight than explaining the whole thing. The two summoned their wings and duel disks, surprising Ishizu in front._

_"After we explain how we got our powers and the use of our powers, could you tell us what does this mean, Ishizu?" Serenity asked. Ishizu closed her eyes, thinking about how to explain this more clearly. She opened her eyes and nodded._

_"Alright. We'll start with your friend over there to explain since she had her powers first. Then, you, Serenity." Tara stuttered._

_"M-me? A-all right..."_

_0000_

_The two girls finally explained the whole situations they were in and how did they got their powers. Tara's took a longer time because she had hers longer than Serenity who received it just recently. Ishizu blinked and sighed, sounding like she knew this is going to happen. The two girls looked at each other and back to the woman who now stood up and walked toward the bookcase._

_"I knew this is going to happen." Serenity and Tara were now surprised to hear about this._

_"You knew, Ishizu?" Serenity asked. The woman nodded and took a box from the second lowest shelf. The wooded box was designed that the top had the signed of an eye like the Millennium Puzzle that Yugi had. Behind the eye, a white sun-like design was on the left side and a black swirl on the right.The edges and sides were plastered in gold like something in there is important. Since there was a little key hole in the middle where a key was supposed to be in and dust on the box, something must be really important that was concealed that long. Ishizu walked back her desk and placed the box in front of the girls where the hole was facing them._

_"It seems that it is time to face the challenges that lies ahead for the both of you. Now, I must ask you, two, to think over both of your destinies before you accept future responsibilities. I am not forcing you to face this because this is your choice, girls." The two girls looked at each other and excused themselves to discuss about their... fated destinies. (AN: Holy crap! That was lame, but I don't have any other good words! -sniff-)_

_"Now what, Serenity? Do we have to actually think about choosing whether we could accept this or not?" Tara asked with concern written on her face. Serenity thought and frowned._

_"I do, but this is actually our own. I want to, but I afraid that I would make a mistake." Serenity stated. Tara sighed and lightly punched Serenity's shoulder._

_"Hey. We always make a mistake in our lives. It's not that perfect, but we have to correct our mistakes, Serenity. I did a few mistakes in my days, but I corrected them and moved on, not feeling anymore guilt." Serenity looked up to see Tara smiling at her._

_"If you did or did not choose to do this, I'm not stopping you. This is a huge responsibility, Serenity. If you are not up to it, you don't have to choose to face it." Serenity blinked and gasped quietly, realizing what Tara was saying._

_"You already decided?" Tara nodded._

_"Yep!"_

_"But... but isn't it going to take a big part of your life?" Tara shrugged._

_"Yeah. I knew that, but since I had these powers and dueled against those hooded men, I decided that I would take it and face the consequences in the future." Tara was about to go toward the desk, but Serenity grabbed her arm. Tara turned her head around to see the auburn haired girl with a serious face._

_"What is it?" Tara asked. Serenity let go to her arm and took a deep breath._

_"I'll help you." The black haired girl frowned and walked toward her._

_"You do know that after you accept this, there's no turning back and future consequences would be placed on you, making you feel guilt. There also might be taking away people's futures and dreams. This path you accepted might also destroy you and others. Are you ready to accept what lies ahead of you?" Serenity blinked and closed her eyes. Her family was on her protecting list and the first. Second, she might placed her family and friends in danger. However, when she remembered the hooded men, the whole world could be in danger. Serenity couldn't see everyone suffer because she didn't do anything, and she's going to do something that would protect. That was it. She accepted this and would deal with the consequences in the future._

_"Yeah." Tara blinked and sighed._

_"All right. Just promise me that you wouldn't attract unwanted trouble and attention that would put you in danger, okay?" Serenity smiled and nodded. The two girls walked toward the desk._

_"We decided that we would be responsible for whatever is ahead of us." Tara stated. Ishizu looked at Tara and then Serenity who nodded with courage in her eyes. Ishizu nodded and gave them directions._

_"Place your hand on top of the box, girls. When it unlocks, open the box to receive help for your future destinies." Serenity asked with doubt._

_"What happens if it doesn't Ishizu?" The Egyptian woman smiled._

_"I am not wrong, Serenity." The girls shrugged, deciding for the go of it. Serenity placed her right hand on the white sun, and Tara placed her left hand over the black swirl. The eye made a blink, causing the girls to gasp._

_"Is it just me, or did that eye just blinked?" Tara asked._

_"No. It blinked." Serenity responded. They both hear a click from the box and took a deep breath. Serenity glanced at the clock that was 4:37 pm, timing their discussion._

_"Well... this is it. You ready?" Tara asked, and Serenity nodded. Their hands lifted the cover up, seeing a bright light in the box and feeling like their soul was sucked in._

_0000_

_Serenity moaned in pain and opened her eyes slowly. She could only see a blur of something light brown and tried to move her fingers just in case her body was still in one piece. _

_Yep. Still in one piece. _

_Her vision started to clear as the auburn haired girl sat up slowly. Her back felt like someone slammed her on a wall, and her eyes were now crystal clear. She looked around her stoney surroundings. She was in some kind of hallway that was made of bricks from the bottom, top, and sides. She looked forward that lead to a never ending hall. Bangs from her back made her turn around. Tara was awake but pissed as hell due to hearing a lot of swears from the teen's mouth and kicking the door. Whether it was Ishizu who was thought to trick them or it was just the iron door in front of her, she was mad... beyond mad. Serenity sighed and stood up, careful to not scratch her knee._

_"Tara." The black haired girl stopped her kicking and turned around to meet the awakened auburn haired girl. She sheepishly smiled and laughed, feeling busted at the moment._

_"Ehehe... h-hey, Serenity. You finally woke up. I was... um... trying to open the door." Serenity closed her eyes, resisting to roll her eyes from Tara's white lie. She opened them and smiled, saying the obvious._

_"If you are thinking that Ishizu tricked you, she didn't. This happens." Tara blinked and averted her eyes to the other side, feeling embarrassed._

_"I-I never thought anything of that." Serenity grinned._

_"Sure."_

_After their little talk, Serenity and Tara observed the iron door. There was no door knob or handle. There wasn't even a key hole anywhere. The two gave up and sat down on their behinds._

_"We searched everywhere, but there is no other way of opening this metal. Anything in your mind?" Tara asked. Serenity blinked and thought about it._

_"Well... I heard that Yugi had this same problem. He said that he and the Phar-" Then, it hit her. The woman's voice from the duel, the stone hallway, the iron door... could it be?_

_"Are we supposed to meet our incarnation from Ancient Egypt?" Serenity questioned._

_"What?" The two quickly stood up and turned around, meeting face to face with their incarnation. Serenity was facing her incarnation who had white hair and blue eyes. Her single cloth were dirty and a little worn out but had a rope around her waist. Her sleeves were up to her wrist and below the rope was three inches above her knees. Their hair was not the same, but their faces were the same. Tara's incarnation was the same as herself. However, her incarnation's hair was up to her waist and instead of two spit bangs of hair in the middle, there was four in chin length. The woman had worn a simple cloth of white that had gold around her collar bone and on her waist. There was a rope around her waist and held a sword, meaning that she was a warrior._

_The four stared at each other for a few seconds before Serenity asked the white haired woman._

_"Are you the one who helped me calmed down before the duel?" The woman blinked and then smiled, nodding to confirm Serenity's question._

_"Yes." Tara then asked to her incarnation._

_"And... you are the one who told me that my little sister was in danger?" The other Tara nodded without a word. Tara rose an eyebrow and crossed her arms._

_"Not much of a talker, are you?" That question might have snap something inside the other Tara._

_"I do talk. Do not insult me." The short haired girl took a step back and put her hands up in defense._

_"Whoa! Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." _

_"Offend me? I assume you don't talk much when you woke up."_

_"Hey! I said sorry! Geez, you're a pain in the-" Serenity and the white haired woman sighed at the same time, surprising each other by their timely action. They sheepishly smiled and laughed at their companions' acting._

_0000_

_"What are your names?" Serenity asked. After calming the two black haired girls from the little argument, the four girls were sitting down in front of the door, facing each other instead. The white haired woman pointed to herself. The two girls were sitting on their heels while their incarnations were sitting on their hips while their legs were behind them and their left arms held the ground for body support._

_"My name is Kirasa." The three looked at the long black haired girl who rose an eyebrow at them._

_"What is it?" Tara sighed and gave her the "You know the question now answer it" look. The other Tara grunted and answered._

_"Tamera." This time, the two reincarnations introduced themselves to their incarnation._

_"I'm Serenity Wheeler. NIce to meet you." Serenity waved at their two incarnations._

_"Tara Strong." Tamera rose an eyebrow with a smirk on her face._

_"Is that it? Just your short name?" Tara glared at her incarnation like she was the annoying being ever lived in her body._

_"You know that you are going to be the number one annoying person in my list." Tamera shrugged and smiled. Serenity looked behind her to see the iron door in the corner of her left eye._

_"So... what's behind the iron door?" The auburn haired girl asked the two incarnations. Kirasa looked at Tamera with a questioning look, and the long black haired woman nodded. The white haired girl looked back to the two reincarnations to speak the answer._

_"A small part of my past. Nothing else." Now, this caught Tara and Serenity's attention. Behind that door, there was a past that Kirasa might have a memory about something important. If there was..._

_"Could you show your past to us?" Tara asked. Kirasa frowned a little and rubbed her arms, feeling nervous._

_"Well... it's not that great..." Serenity gave her the puppy eyes. Kirasa somehow felt sorry for the girl. Probably, it's from the puppy eye act._

_"Please?" Now, that was a low blow. Tara and Tamera looked at each other and scooted back away from the auburn haired girl. Kirasa's heart melted and 'aw'ed at the cute adorable face._

_"Okay. I think it doesn't hurt to show you, three." The girl squealed and hugged her incarnation with a lot of 'thank you's. The black haired girls looked at each other from the corner of their eyes and looked down, sighing._

_"This is going to be a long show." Tamera stated, and Tara nodded her head, fearing that this would take a long time. Kirasa stood up and touched the iron door with her palm on the steel. The metal started to fade as the light behind the door started to shine. The white haired woman turned her head to let her right eye catch the other three's attention._

_"Ready?" Serenity nodded and walked up to Kirasa as Tamera and Tara followed behind. The door finally disappeared, and the light engulfed them in the middle of the street._

_(AN: You all should know Kirasa and Priest Set's past by watching, so I'll just cut to the end.)_

_0000_

_The background faded into black, and the hallway appeared around them. The iron door in front of them appeared to conceal the past. Kirasa sighed and smiled softly, feeling happy that her love cried for her after her death. She turned around to say something to the girls but stopped to see Tara and Serenity having tears in their eyes like they watched a sad ending. Kirasa had a huge sweat drop behind her head, and Tamera smiled after snapping herself out of her amazement._

_"It looks like the girls are moved by your past." The two girls cried and ran up to Kirasa, hugging the poor woman. Tamera just laughed, enjoying the cute scene in front of her._

_"I'm so sorry, Kirasa! You had your life more difficult than mine!" Serenity sniffed while hugging her friend._

_"You and Set had a hard life together! I hope that you and he find each other to live happily ever after!" Tara cried and tried to give Serenity's incarnation hope. Kirasa said that it was all right, but the girls protested that they would find his reincarnation to get Kirasa and Set back together... like soul mates. The white haired woman gave a pleading glance at the long black haired woman, but Tamera shook her head, confirming that she wasn't going to help Kirasa out of that. Kirasa playfully glared at her who shrugged it off like it was nothing. She now pouted, making Tamera irked to accept her need of assistance. Tamera sighed and nodded, making Kirasa silently said, "Score!" in her mind._

_"Isn't it time to go back home?" The two girls stopped protesting and looked at Tamera with confusion. She sighed and stated._

_"It's almost time to go back. Do you need to go back?" The two girls looked at each other and nodded. They didn't know how long they were staying in this scary unknown hall and the creepiness was now getting in their skin._

_"Yeah. You're right." Tara nodded. The two girls bowed, said their goodbyes to their incarnation, and ran toward the endless tunnel where a small light was shining in their sight until it got brighter._

_0000_

_Serenity opened her eyes and blinked, looking around Ishizu's office. It looks like they were back from their discussion with Kirasa and Tamera, and Ishizu was still standing in front of them. From the corner of her eyes, Tara opened her eyes and grimaced at the bright light. Then, she looked at clock. Her eyes widened with surprise._

_It was still 4:37 pm._

_"Girls, look inside the box." Tara and Serenity stared at the Egyptian woman and then the inside of the box. There were two decks the last card in the deck, making the two girls gasp in surprise._

_"Blue Eyes White Dragon and Red Eyes Black Dragon? Ishizu! I thought there were only three cards of the Blue Eyes White Dragon cards and one Red Eyes Black Dragon card in this city!" Serenity exclaimed her thoughts to Ishizu. Tara nodded and added more statements._

_"Also, it's expensive to get them due to it's insane rarity! Heck, many of the companies couldn't buy them without selling their companies!" Ishizu shook her head, explaining their surprise._

_"I didn't know that there were decks in this box. My family never told me what was in them, but they knew that our ancestors placed a seal that two of the chosen ones with opposite powers would unlock them in the future for their destiny to stop an unknown evil that will escape it's prison. I would never expect that you, two, were chosen." The girls looked at each other and back to the woman, questioning her._

_"Why?" Ishizu turned around and looked outside._

_"It is because both of your powers and personalities are opposite. Also, you both have incarnations that possess the power of the dragons."_

_End of Flashback_

0000

"Done..." A sigh of relief came out from the girl's mouth as she closed the notebook back in her room. Books and notebooks were stacked in the right side of completed homework. Serenity removed her reading glasses and placed it inside the case. She rubbed her eyes and yawned feeling tired for the minute. However, she started to glow light from her body and then sighed. She could hear Kirasa giggling as she made an imaginary glare at the white haired woman in her.

_"Hey, Serenity. It's them."_

_"A double duel?"_

_"Yep!"_

_"Ra..."_

Serenity flipped her cellphone and use the shortcut to call Tara. She stood up and ran to the front door. When she put on her shoes, Tara's voice answered the phone with a drowsy reply.

"(yawn) Whaddya want, Seren?"

"We have a duel again. They are in the docks. Wake up and get over there!"

"Okay. I'll be there quickly." Serenity turned her cellphone off and slipped it in her pocket. She opened the door and ran downstairs to face another common or ultimate duel.


	7. What the?

**It has been two years already?! Wow. I must have been very busy. Sorry to all my readers. As you can see, I have been rereading this story and have been slightly rejuvenated. However, all stories would be on hiatus until I have my inspiration back up and my free time for story writing. You can read it, but I wouldn't recommend waiting for updates like this. Therefore, all reviews would be ignored, but critics are welcomed to improve my creativity. Additionally, I update some stories if I have the inspiration and the chance.**

**Disclaimer from the first chapter and will be not saying it again: I don't own anything. If you see something like this (1), it still means that I made it up.**

Chapter 7: What the?

"Goddamn this cold!" Tara hissed as she ran to the piers to meet up with Serenity. It was late, and Tara had to crawl out of her window to get to the docks before Serenity does. She had her Hell deck in her pocket of her black hooded sweater and wore black sweatpants instead of normal jeans, and she made sure that none of the cards are damaged when she crawled out of the two story high house. It's not like she didn't trust Serenity or didn't think that Serenity is a bad player; it was her other self telling her to move her butt off the bed and get there before the Wheeler girl does. Addition to Tara's grumpiness, it was cold and very late.

All of a sudden, Tara stopped in front of the street and looked both ways. Tara saw a car coming and frowned. She slipped the hood over her head and pretended that she was jogging for exercise. Her hood covered her eyes to protect her face, and she slightly peeked before lowering her head again. What do you expect? She was running out in public, and it was dark with a few streetlights on. It was dangerous to be out after midnight because no one could see the pedestrians in the dark.

The car passed by her, and Tara peeked under the hood. She had to restrain herself from losing balance when she saw how long the car is.

This was no joke. The car in front of her must have been a limousine, and only rich people were allowed to ride in those cars for business or something else. She has seen them sometimes around the block back in America and on highways, but most of them were for high school students going to their prom night and were seen somewhere noisy and city-like. Unlike Serenity and her friends, Tara just lived in a small town at the edge of Battle City, and she always took the train to get to other destinations. At night, she would just run her way around corners and took dangerous shortcuts to get to deserted areas without getting caught. This car was going through a quiet and public town like this, and any car like this ever passes through the road is considered suspicious. She had a feeling about the car as it passed her and went straight to the city, but Tara decided to ignore the car and run across the street to alleys that lead to the docks. She did made a lot of rackets by jumping over fences, making banging sounds through stairs and trashcans, and disturbing others from sleeping, but with her hood over her head and her athletic skills, she managed to get away from trouble. Perhaps learning about street fighting after karate wasn't so bad after all.

When she reached to the docks, she had to slip into the bushes where Serenity and Tara usually meet up. The docks were somewhat creepy since it looks like it was abandoned or something. It was also creepy at night, and both girls have to hide behind crates, slip through windows, and get through the dock's fences without a sound. Security in the docks was pretty light, but the girls couldn't risk getting caught. Serenity was always a good girl and would keep on saying that they would have to ask first. Tara didn't listen to the girl and did her own way, and that would usually lead to arguments, duel against the hooded men, and have a time limit on "no speaking" terms tomorrow until the next day. Consider it the usual daily life for both of the girls.

Tara heard a car driving nearby and peeked from the bushes and through the wired fence. It was strange to hear someone coming around this late at night, but what is stranger is that it was the limousine, the same limousine, driving into the docks. She looked at her watch. It blinked 2:43 am, and this car arrived in the place this late. It was pretty far from her view, but she was sure that that was the same limousine that drove through her neighborhood.

_**All these things are the same, you idiot.**_

_Shut it, Tamera. I'm sure that this is the same limo back in-_

_**If you are done, someone's coming out.**_

_Who?_

Looking at whom her incarnation was talking about, Tara almost blew a gasket when she saw the very person who caused the whole drama.

"Seto Kaiba?!"

0000

_Tara is going to kill me!_

_**I apologize. I was the one who told you to get the cloth before you were almost there.**_

_No, it's fine. I was the one who didn't think of it before._

Unlike Tara, Serenity took corners to be safe and thought that being there a lot later would somehow involve an angry Tara and an equally angry Tara incarnation. Serenity and Kisara were getting along well. It was fun to have someone talk to you like an older sister, and she wanted an older sister. Of course she liked Mai and Tea as an older sister, and she's not complaining about it. It was just that she wanted someone who could stay with her a little bit for company when her family was away and her friends staying at their homes. Serenity was in a safe position when her mother would come home tomorrow night; Tara wasn't because both of her parents were working in the morning. Therefore, Serenity had to get there to make sure that both girls could get back home safely. Instructed to wear a dark blue hooded sweater, dark blue sweatpants, and a hair tie by Tara, nobody could recognize Serenity unless a strand of her hair was dangling on her face.

When she reached to the docks, she found Tara peeking through the bushes and ran up to her. Serenity was about to greet her, but Tara grabbed the girl by the collar and pulled her down. Leaves and rustling were heard from Serenity's struggle, as she wanted an explanation.

"Tara? Wha-?" Serenity somewhat yelped, but Tara covered her mouth quickly and shushed.

"Shhh! Shut up. You're late, and your 'husband' is out there, dueling the hooded men." Serenity gave Tara a confused look.

"What are you talking about? Husband?" The raven-haired girl pointed at the bushes, and both girls peeked inside the bushes.

"K-Kaiba? What is he doing here?" Serenity whispered in surprise, and Tara frowned.

Standing from the sides, there were three men with duel disks out. Two were the hooded men that the girls were supposed to face; the other side was a very tall man with the chestnut colored hair and his white trench coat floating to defy gravity. He stood there with pride and concentrated on the battle between his monsters against theirs. The two hooded men had Summoned Skull, Gaia the Fierce Knight, and Judge Man, three other cards facing down, and Dragon Jar on the field; Seto had Vorse Raider, and Sword Stalker on the field with three cards facing down. There was another card on the field, and both girls guessed that he summoned a Dragon type that was sucked into the jar. All monsters were facing up in attack mode, and Serenity squinted her eyes to see the life points. The men had 2900 and 2500, while Seto had 4300. Since it was one against two, Seto had the double amount of life points.

"I don't know. I'm somewhat happy that we don't have to face them, but dammit! It pisses me off to see that CEO getting the two cards. Those cards are damn good, and he's getting the treasure." Tara huffed, and Serenity sighed.

"Let's just watch the duel." Tara reluctantly agreed, and the girls were observing the strategy. Serenity and Tara were relieved that they didn't have to face the overpowered duelists, but only Tara was somewhat annoyed that someone was going to get the cards instead of them. It was a good thing that the bushes could fit two people to hide. With hooded sweaters and sweatpants, they didn't need to worry about leaves and dirt on themselves. They just have to worry about insects and arachnids in these bushes.

Meanwhile, it was the hooded men's turn, and one of them drew a card. He smirked and placed down a card facing up.

"Come to the battlefield, 7 Colored Fish!" From the card facing up, a long and rainbow fish swam above the card and hissed. The hooded man grinned maliciously and pressed a button.

"Now, I activate 'Devil's Deal' (1). With this Equip card, I can choose one monster lower than 5 stars to power up, and any monster on the field that is 5 stars or higher would have their attack points and defense points halved and transfer to my monster by 300 Attack points each. Since there is your Blue Eyes White Dragon and Sword Stalker and our Judge Man, Summoned Skull, and Gaia, all of our high-leveled monsters are weakened while one of our monsters power up by 300, 7 Colored Fish gets a total of 3300 Attack Points!" The card activated to reveal a silhouette of a man with horns on its head, and the silhouette raised its hand to sap the power of all monsters except the 7 Colored Fish and Vorse Raider. The fish roared as it grew larger and powered up, and the monsters on the field were weakened by only half of their attack points and defense points. The hooded man grinned.

"Now, attack his pathetic Sword Stalker!" Seto seemed unfazed, and both of the girls were observing closely on what he was going to do.

"I activate Disarmament!"

"What?!" The hooded men shouted as the card faced up from behind the monsters. (AN: Yes. This card is real.) The silhouette roared in pain, as the card shattered. Not only the equip card shattered, one other card on their field was destroyed, and the fish lost its power and was back to its original size. Sword Stalker and Blue Eyes White Dragon recovered and regained their power, and the fish took a bite out of Sword Stalker. The dark knight didn't seem fazed by its bite, and it slashed the fish, decimating the monster and lowering one of the men's life points down by 200, leaving him with 2300. Seto smirked.

"Pathetic." The man was outraged and was about to command his Summoned Skull, but his partner stopped him.

"Wait, you imbecile! Do you want to fall into his trap?!" The man glared at his partner.

"No! But-"

"Then, end your turn. We cannot risk losing against this mere human by just losing your temper." Serenity and Tara glanced at each other. Human? Did they just call Seto a human? Aren't they human too?

"Fine. I end my turn." The man growled out, and the girls decided to watch who was next. The other hooded man took a card out his deck and looked at the card. He grinned and set the card into the slot. The card appeared behind his monsters, and Serenity guessed that it must be a Trap card. She glanced at Seto in worry, but Kisara calmed her.

_**Do not worry, child. Seto knows what he's doing.**_

_But-_

_**Trust him.**_

Serenity thought about trusting him. It's not that he believed in the "heart of the cards." Oh no. She was leaning a bit more to believing in her deck; he was more logical and tactical to believe in magic, or in his terms "hocus-pocus." She believed in magic when she witnessed her brother go into a comatose in the semi-finals. He didn't believe in magic and claimed that all of the magic is just a joke just to cheat in dueling.

They were very different on personality and skills than just beliefs. Serenity was kind, caring, sincere, and dependent; she was symbolized as the lamb of a small group. Seto was ruthless, uncaring, closed, and independent; he was the alpha wolf of a big company. Serenity had skills equal to Tara but lower than her brother; Seto has the skills that almost equaled to Yugi Moto. Even though it is almost equaled, he still strived to become the best of the best. In order to strive to become the best, he needed to beat Yugi Moto to end his obsession. For her, it was to survive and defeat these hooded men.

Somehow, trusting him dueling on his own was just enough to beat the hooded men. However, something about this trust seemed to be unsettling in her heart. But… what?

"Go, my Judge Man, and destroy Vorse Raider!" Seto didn't seem to be fazed that his Vorse Raider was destroyed when Judge Man, nor when his 4300 life points went down to 4000. He seemed confident on taking down the hooded men even though he still had his poker face on.

"How's that? All is left is your measly Sword Stalker and Blue Eyes White Dragon, and everything would be over." Seto sighed.

"Go ahead."

"He just not gave up." Tara hissed, as she looked closer at the battle. Serenity touched her shoulder and gave her a reassurance look.

"Tara. Calm down. He's Kaiba. He knows what is going on." Tara gave her a disbelieving look and whispered.

"I don't believe it. Don't you have doubts in this person? I know that you trust your friends and us, but… is this guy even worth trusting? I heard from your brother that he has done a lot of nasty things. I don't want you to get hurt because of him." Serenity frowned, hearing these words from her friend. Tara was protective and worried about her safety like her brother, but she was more prejudice against people than her brother like the time she met up with Serenity's other friends or talk about how stupid the hooded men were to not anticipate the trap or quick magic spell card. Serenity never questioned why, but there are some things that can't be explained for this stubborn girl. Even though she has never met Seto, Tara doubted the man, his skills, and his heart.

Doubt was a strong word for Serenity; it caused others to feel scared and nervous around others. It made trust look easy and weak just to take advantage to gain something for selfish reasons.

_**Please, trust him. If you have doubts, see him in action than in words.**_

_Kisara…_

_**Remember the time you first saw him.**_

She remembered the first time she met him in the Battle City Tournament. He insulted her brother when Joey was looking out the window, and her brother reacted badly on his talk. She saw him, but he didn't acknowledge her presence until Ryou Bakura's collapse. With her friends, she pleaded and bowed to him to help her friend's recovery. With her and her friend's effort, Seto gave in and called for a doctor through the intercom. She thanked him, but he ignored her and continued the tournament.

"Gaia! Attack Sword Stalker!" The knight charged straight at the monster in full speed, shattering the monster and sending it to the graveyard. Not only the monster was sent to the graveyard, Seto lost 300 of his life points, making a total of 3700. The man smirked and ended his turn for he knew wiser than to attack a strong card that was in the Dragon's Jar. Seto drew a card from his deck and looked at what it was.

"Doubt… Yes. I did doubt when I saw him a few times. I doubted his actions and his words when I…" She pulled her left sleeve down a bit to show the ring that Seto slipped through. She made a promise to her friends that no matter what happens to each other; they would help them in anyway. Yet… the responsibility was heavy on her shoulders.

Now, Serenity doesn't know whether to trust the man to the fullest. She doesn't know if Seto really meant it or just playing around her. His once gentle voice made her trust him too easily, and she is now doubted his actions since he showed her his colder side. She wasn't sure about this man. Both actions and words hid the Kaiba's true intentions, and Serenity couldn't see or hear if he really meant it or not. Not only she had to protect her secret, she had to marry a man who is cold, cruel, uncaring, and forceful. What did he want from her? Why did he, the most powerful CEO in the world who had fame and fortune, want to marry her, a middle class girl who lived with an almost broken family? She did trust him, but actions meant more than just sweet words… right?

She pulled her sleeve over her hand and clutched it like it was cursed, holding her hand to her heart. Serenity was naïve to trust people who her friends didn't like, and this is the result in trusting people too much just to feel the stab through the heart. She felt anger for her naivety, betrayal from her brother and the man whom she thought had changed, hopelessness when she knew that there was no way out from the man's grasp, and sadness and guilt because she was letting her partner do all the work while she was getting married. Yet…

"But… I think I can trust Kaiba this time." Tara questioned her trust.

"This time?" Serenity nodded.

"Just this time, but not every time, Tara. Trust is strong, but doubt is more powerful. It takes doubt to take over first until I can see a reason that I could trust him. If it is reasonable enough, then I could trust him with almost everything." Tara stared at the auburn-haired girl for a bit and chuckled softly.

"Doubt's stronger than trust, huh?" Serenity just looked back at the duel.

"First, I summon Lord of Dragons in the field. Now, that jar cannot keep my Blue Eyes White Dragon from attacking." Both girls almost fell from the bush when they heard what type of dragon he had in the field.

"B-Blue Eyes?!" Tara yelped quietly, and both girls observed the jar releasing the ultimate monster from Seto's deck. The white dragon roared and flew back to its original place. Knowing the dragon's return, he slipped three cards into the slot, revealing three faced-down cards behind the dragon.

"I activate Blue Stream of Des-" One of the hooded men grinned and pressed a slot button.

"Ha! I activate Mystic Space Typhoon! Now you can't use-"

"I activate Seven Tools of the Bandit." Seto stated, and the card flipped up to reveal a tool with many sharp tools.

"What?!" Both men exclaimed as the Mystic Space Typhoon was destroyed, and the dragon continued the spell. Blue Eyes White Dragon shot out a bright lightning from its mouth, and the lightning reached where one of the hooded men's monsters stood. The field exploded, and the two monsters, where Judge Man and Gaia the Fierce Knight stood, were gone and were sent to the Graveyard. Once the field was clear, it was only the man who stood with 2700 Life Points, and Seto was left with 2700 because of the cost activating the counter trap card.

"Even though you can cut down my life points by 1200, I'm still standing, and your Blue Eyes White Dragon can't attack on your Battle Phase. You are stupid to activate that magic card and that trap card." Seto, who still had a poker face (much to both the girls amazement on how long he could put on that mask), pressed a button to reveal a magic card.

"Reinforcement of the Army? Why do you need that?" The partner asked, knowing what kind of effect the card has. However, he didn't know what kind of Warrior the CEO had in his deck. Taking out his deck, Seto quickly scanned through his cards before he found one card for this advantage.

"This card." He took the card out to his hand, shuffled his deck, and placed the deck back into the slot. How typical.

"I summon Mataza the Zapper to the field." He placed the card facing up, and a man in a samurai armor appeared on the field beside the Lord of Dragons.

"Attack, Mataza." Seto commanded. The warrior dashed toward the man who had no monsters on the field and slashed the man, lowering his Life Points down to 1400. The man snorted.

"So what? I still have enough Life Points to go to the next turn." Both girls looked at each other and grimaced. Those men didn't know whom they were dealing with, and they were going to have their first taste on defeat by Seto Kaiba. The powerful CEO smirked.

"Oh, this is where you are underestimating me." Serenity could hear a hint of rage behind the mocking voice.

"Mataza has an effect. I cannot change his position, but he can attack twice in the Battle Phase." That left the man wide-eyed, and Seto still smirked.

"Attack again, Mataza." The warrior dashed again and slashed the screaming man, lowering his Life Points down to 100. Seto looked at his Lord of Dragons and commanded his monster to attack his remaining Life Points. The partner screamed.

"Help me! Please!" The man glanced at the smirking opponent, and Seto seemed to smirk even more, daring him to do something. The hooded man shuddered.

"No."

"What?!"

"I said no, you weakling." The partner was furious.

"You, son of a bitch! I gave you advice to save you from humiliation, and you don't even thank me! You don't even save me! You-ARGH!!" The man lost the rest of his Life Points and was eliminated from the duel. In an instant he lost, his body faded with black mist from his body. Unable to finish his curse, the man disappeared to who knows where he was gone, and a card floated down where the man stood. The cards from his side of the field disappeared, and the only person on the other side has his Summoned Skull, the Dragon Jar, and a card facing down.

"Now, it's just you and me. Since I don't have any other monster to attack, I'll just put in two cards on the field and end my turn." Seto smirked as he slipped two cards in two slots, and the man gave away no emotion. The last man drew a card and smirked.

"He was weak. He just gives advices just to gain trust, so he could be famous. His advices backfire on him, and he lost, sent to the Shadow Realm like the weakling he is. He's all talk, no action, and this is what he gets for giving too much advices. I, on the other hand, am different. I don't beg for mercy like the weakling." Seto smirked.

"We'll see about that." Seto announced, and the hooded man looked at the card. He grinned even more.

"I activate Change of Heart! I can choose one monster from your field and control it as my own. So… I choose your Lord of Dragons!" He slipped the card into the slot, and the card revealed an angel with both demonic and angelic wings. He smiled maliciously when the spell caster was now transferred to his side of the field.

"Because the Lord of Dragons is on my field, any prevention of trap or magic cards is now unrestricted. Therefore, say goodbye to your Blue Eyes." The Dragon Jar continued its effect and sucked the dragon back inside, leaving Seto with Mataza the Zapper.

"Now, I sacrifice your Lord of Dragons to summon… Thunder Dragon!" The spell caster disappeared and screamed, and one that very place, a yellow dragon slithered its way from the card, roaring in pride. The man grinned as he slipped in a card into the slot.

"Now, I activate Fissure! This allows me to take out one monster from the field, and I choose your precious Blue Eyes White Dragon!" The dragon was freed, but the fissure opened up just for the dragon to fall. Serenity grimaced and held onto Tara's sweater when they heard the dragon roar in agony. In their heads, their dragons from their deck also roared in grief when they heard their brethren's demise of a magic card. If not the dragons, Serenity could feel Kisara's crying out in despair. The man smiled maliciously and glanced at the remaining monster.

"Now, it's just you and your Mataza. After I'm done with you, I'll continue the little hunting game without any distractions." Serenity glanced at Seto, who didn't say anything, and she and Kisara couldn't do anything but watch. The man continued.

"Now, Summoned Skull! Attack Mataza the Zapper!"

"I activate Ring of Destruction!"

"What?! No! Not that! Please!" The hooded man pleaded, and Seto smirked. Apparently, the girls knew that the duel would be over before the hooded man could gain his victory, and the trap card that Seto had Summoned Skull about to be destroyed and would inflict both of their Life Points. Seto would survive with 200 Life Points, but the hooded man was finished.

"What's wrong? Didn't you say that you don't ask for mercy?" There was no reply, and Seto grunted.

"I guess all of you, hunters, are weak like your partner there. Pathetic." The ring with flames appeared from the face down card and flew straight above the fiend monster. It flew down to trap the Summoned Skull and destroyed it, depleting all of the hooded man's Life Points and barely depleting Seto's Life Points to 200. The hooded man cried out in agony as his body disappeared, leaving behind a card from his place. Seto walked forward where the men used to stand and picked up the two cards that were left behind. He examined them for a bit until he slipped them into a pocket inside his trench coat. He later glanced at their direction, and both girls stopped breathing, feeling like he knew that they were watching his duel the whole time. Running through the two girls' minds, or four, they slightly panicked a bit and wondered what Seto was going to use on them for spying.

"Seto! Did you get something you wanted?" Tara and Serenity heard a familiar voice from the farther side of their view and turned their attention to the source of the familiarity. Peaking out from the door, a familiar long, raven haired preteen was holding onto the door and about to get out of the limo.

"Yes, Mokuba. I got them. Now, let's go." Oh. So that was the familiar voice. They were sort of relieved to see Mokuba taking the attention away from the girls. Serenity sighed out a breath for how long she was holding in. The anticipation was too much for both Serenity and Kisara to watch and wait, and they both were waiting for something to take Seto's attention away from the girls. It was hard to both of them to watch him play this duel like it was some experiment, but it was harder for them to not move a muscle when he was staring where they were.

"Already? But we just got here, and where are the guys that were standing there? It's like they disappeared." The young preteen stated in surprise to hear his older brother wanting to leave, but it surprised the girls even more to hear just how short their supposed arrival was and how Mokuba asked about the disappearance of the hooded men. Seto sighed, and Serenity could hear a bit of tiredness in his voice.

"I already got what I wanted. There's no point on staying here. Driver, back to the mansion." The chauffeur bowed respectively, and Seto passed him and went back to the limo. Mokuba didn't say anything and got his whole body back inside the limousine, letting the chauffeur close the door. The girls waited in the bushes to hear the engine turn on and the limo drive the other direction away from the girls. Waiting for a minute or so, both girls decided that it was safe for them to get out of the bushes and jog a little bit away from the docks. Turning through corners and finding a desolated park, the girls stopped at a bench and took their hoods off. Their incarnations appeared beside them, discussing what just happened.

"Let's recall what we just saw, starting from Tara and Tamera's point of view." Serenity started, and Tara's incarnation began the story.

"_Seto Kaiba came to the docks, and he said that he knew that the men we were supposed to duel were. The duel started a few minutes ago before you showed up_." Tamera frowned.

"I think you missed what happened before the duel started. On my way to the docks from Serenity's sixth sense, I saw a limousine on my way to the docks in the middle of the night. My guess is that the limousine I saw belonged to Kaiba." It was Serenity's turn to frown.

"Could it be… a coincidence?" Kisara shook her head.

"_I don't believe that the current Seto we all know believes in magic. If he was to know that the hooded men were there, he could have believed in magic or have a sixth sense like Serenity. However, I doubt that because only Dragon Duelists were allowed to have different kinds of sixth senses._" Tara asked.

"Then, what the hell was all that dueling? Right before Kaiba beat that hooded man, he called them 'hunters'. Also, after the men were gone, Kaiba went up to the cards and took them." Kisara wondered as she placed her finger under her chin.

"_Who are these hunters Seto spoke of? What are they after _" Serenity pondered.

"I remembered something from the Battle City Tournaments. Marik Ishtar once had his group called the 'Ghouls' because he was hunting down the most powerful cards, meaning that he once hunted down the god cards." Tara was a bit surprised about this information.

"Wait… Marik was a villain who wanted a what card?" Serenity raised her hands in defense.

"Hold on, Tara! Marik is good now! It was his evil side that got hold of him and wanted the god cards before one of my good friends destroyed his evil side and saved Marik." Tara sighed in relief for a bit.

"That's good to hear." Tamera continued the discussion.

"_For all of the information we gathered and heard, it appears that these hooded men, now are known as hunters, are hunting for something. It may be the cards, but from what we heard, these strong cards are deemed useless for the hunters to take. Perhaps… it must be something else other than strong cards._" All the girls thought for a bit and tried to find any solution, but they have concluded nothing. It was nothing until…

"Hey, Tara? What time is it?" Serenity asked, and Tara looked at her in confusion.

"Huh? The time?" Tara pulled her sleeve back for a bit and answered out.

"It's 2:50 am. Why?" Serenity asked again.

"What time did you arrive there?" Tamera answered.

"_From what I saw for a bit, I think 2:43._" Kisara's eyes widened.

"_Shouldn't the duel be over after 3 o' clock? I'm sure that duels don't finish in less than seconds if these duels were more than fifteen to twenty minutes._" Tara's eyes widened.

"Now that you mentioned it, didn't Mokuba told his brother that they 'just arrived' before they left the docks?" The girls didn't dare answer Tara's question, as they all had figured parts out from the duel. Serenity felt a little dizzy from the information processed in her head before she shook it off. Kisara sensed the tiredness from her reincarnation and announced the ending of the discussion.

"_It's late, everyone. We all should go home and get some rest. We'll discuss this in some other time._" Tara and Serenity agreed. It was pretty late, and they all needed to go to school with much needed rest and an open mind to continue their duels both at school and on other times. Their incarnations faded back into the girls' bodies, and both girls bid each other a good night before going their separate ways.

**Again, the story would be put on hold like the rest of the stories until I could update them with a bit of inspiration and time.**


End file.
